response vs retort

response

noun
  • An answer or reply, or something in the nature of an answer or reply. 

  • An oracular answer. 

  • A reply to an objection in formal disputation. 

  • A versicle or anthem said or sung during or after a lection; a respond or responsory. 

  • The act of responding or replying; reply: as, to speak in response to a question. 

  • An online advertising performance metric representing one click-through from an online ad to its destination URL. 

  • A verse, sentence, phrase, or word said or sung by the choir or congregation in sequence or reply to the priest or officiant. 

  • A reaction to a stimulus or provocation. 

retort

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

  • A pressure cooker. 

  • A crematory furnace. 

  • 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. 

verb
  • 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. 

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

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