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

Despite admitting mistakes, Turness hit back at claims of deliberate bias. —Christian Edwards, CNN Money, 11 Nov. 2025

Jason Terry hit back-to-back midrange jumpers and a pair of free throws in 60 seconds. —The Athletic Nba Staff, New York Times, 11 Nov. 2025

But Ukraine is hitting back, targeting numerous critical oil and gas sites in the last month, the latest in Crimea this week, dealing a blow to Russia’s energy industry. —Brendan Cole, MSNBC Newsweek, 8 Nov. 2025

Not only that, but the movie was a box office hit back in August and even returned to theaters for another sing-a-long event for Halloween that did an additional $5-6 million at the box office. —Brian Welk, IndieWire, 5 Nov. 2025

Rhymes for hit back

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