retort vs wry

retort

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. 

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. 

wry

verb
  • To twist or contort (the body, face, etc.). 

adj
  • Deviating from the right direction; misdirected; out of place. 

  • Turned away, contorted (of the face or body). 

  • Dryly humorous; sardonic or bitterly ironic. 

  • Twisted, bent, crooked. 

noun
  • Distortion. 

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