hit back
phrasal verb
hit back; hitting back; hits back
informal
: to attack or criticize someone after being attacked or criticized by them
Weary of her rival's accusations, the candidate hit back with an aggressive ad campaign.
The team hit back with a touchdown of their own.
—often + atThe Senator hit back at his critics.
Examples of hit back in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Google has hit back at claims circulating on social media that accuse the tech giant of training its Google Gemini AI on users' emails without their permission.
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PC Magazine, 22 Nov. 2025
What People Are Saying On Thursday, Heming Willis attended the End Well 2025 conference and hit back at critics over her family's health decisions.
—Megan Cartwright, MSNBC Newsweek, 21 Nov. 2025
Elon Musk has hit back at Billie Eilish after the singer slammed the world’s richest man last week in an infographic suggesting how the Tesla CEO could use his historically massive wealth to do some charitable good.
—Gil Kaufman, Billboard, 18 Nov. 2025
Grande has not publicly commented on the situation but her fan base swiftly hit back at Wen's behavior and accused the influencer of re-traumatizing the singer, whose 2017 concert in Manchester, England, was disrupted by a terrorist attack that killed 22 attendees.
—Shania Russell, Entertainment Weekly, 17 Nov. 2025
See All Example Sentences for hit back
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PC Magazine, 22 Nov. 2025
What People Are Saying On Thursday, Heming Willis attended the End Well 2025 conference and hit back at critics over her family's health decisions.
—Megan Cartwright, MSNBC Newsweek, 21 Nov. 2025
Elon Musk has hit back at Billie Eilish after the singer slammed the world’s richest man last week in an infographic suggesting how the Tesla CEO could use his historically massive wealth to do some charitable good.
—Gil Kaufman, Billboard, 18 Nov. 2025
Grande has not publicly commented on the situation but her fan base swiftly hit back at Wen's behavior and accused the influencer of re-traumatizing the singer, whose 2017 concert in Manchester, England, was disrupted by a terrorist attack that killed 22 attendees.
—Shania Russell, Entertainment Weekly, 17 Nov. 2025
See All Example Sentences for hit back
Cite this Entry
“Hit back.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hit%20back. Accessed 30 Nov. 2025.
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