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

Harry is essentially gagging to hit back at Charles with some kind of ‘revenge’ statement. — Lizzie Lanuza, StyleCaster, 19 Sep. 2026

Buckingham Palace has hit back at claims made by Charles Spencer in his new memoir that King Charles told him that Princess Diana would soon be forgotten in the days following her tragic death in 1997. — Katie Nicholl, Vanity Fair, 18 Sep. 2026

Jeremiah Jackson, a former Mets farmhand, went deep in the second before Christian Encarnacion-Strand and Samuel Basallo hit back-to-back homers in the third. — CBS News, 17 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

Rhymes for hit back

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