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

Shares of Exxon Mobil are also off 23% from the high hit back in March. — Jason Gewirtz, CNBC, 30 June 2026

Lopez and Hernandez hit back-to-back homers off Mason Barnett in the sixth to make it 8-0. — Miami Herald, 6 July 2026

Algeria hit back with some assistance from the corner flag and excellent dribbling by Rafik Belghali. — Anantaajith Raghuraman, New York Times, 5 July 2026

The country is hitting back by extending agreements with industry partners and doubling down on the promotion of its own diamonds. — Kate Matthams, Forbes.com, 2 July 2026

Rhymes for hit back

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