hit back

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

Jo Adell and Bazzana hit back-to-back homers in the first inning for the Guardians, who couldn't capitalize on their early 3-0 lead and fell behind before coming up with a victory that kept their division title hopes alive. — CBS News, 16 Sep. 2026

Javier Sanoja and Jakob Marsee hit back-to-back homers in the fourth inning and combined for five hits and four RBIs for the Marlins, who led 3-0 after the second and 7-4 after the seventh. — Miami Herald, 15 Sep. 2026

The stock is up 9% so far in September, but shares are down 25% from the 52-week high hit back in October of last year. — Jason Gewirtz, CNBC, 14 Sep. 2026

Allen hit his third homer and Nelson Velázquez added his sixth as the pair hit back-to-back solo shots off Casey Legumina in the eighth. — ABC News, 13 Sep. 2026

Rhymes for hit back

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