reply vs retort

reply

verb
  • To give a written or spoken response, especially to a question, request, accusation or criticism; to answer. 

  • To act or gesture in response. 

  • To repeat something back; to echo. 

noun
  • Something given in reply. 

  • A counterattack. 

  • A document written by a party specifically replying to a responsive declaration and in some cases an answer. 

  • The answer of a figure. 

  • A written or spoken response; part of a conversation. 

retort

verb
  • To say something sharp or witty in answer to a remark or accusation. 

  • To bend or curve back. 

  • To throw back; to reverberate; to reflect. 

  • To heat in a retort. 

  • To make a remark which reverses an argument upon its originator; to return, as an argument, accusation, censure, or incivility. 

noun
  • A pressure cooker. 

  • A crematory furnace. 

  • A sharp or witty reply, or one which turns an argument against its originator; a comeback. 

  • An airtight vessel in which material is subjected to high temperatures in the chemical industry or as part of an industrial manufacturing process, especially during the smelting and forging of metal. 

  • A flask with a rounded base and a long neck that is bent down and tapered, used to heat a liquid for distillation. 

How often have the words reply and retort occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )