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 + at

The Senator hit back at his critics.

Examples of hit back in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Attorneys for the tech titans hit back, saying in opening statements Monday and Tuesday that Kaley’s troubled home life and her fractious relationship with her family were to blame for her suffering, not the platforms. —Sonja Sharp, Los Angeles Times, 11 Feb. 2026

OpenAI executives, including Sam Altman, quickly hit back and accused Anthropic’s ads of being misleading and criticized their competitor’s business model. —Hadas Gold, CNN Money, 6 Feb. 2026

Kid Rock is hitting back at criticism of the upcoming All-American Halftime Show, which he is set to headline. —Anna Kaufman, USA Today, 6 Feb. 2026

Elijah Strong and Eli Ellis hit back-to-back three-pointers to give the Gamecocks a 56-52 lead, and South Carolina later built a five-point cushion with just over eight minutes remaining. —Arkansas Online, 1 Feb. 2026

Rhymes for hit back

• aback
• anzac
• attack
• backpack
• backtrack
• bareback
• blackjack
• brownback
• buyback
• callback
• cognac
• comeback