rĕ-torquĕo, si, tum, 2, v. a., to twist or bend back; to turn or cast back (class.; cf. reflecto).
- I. Lit.: caput in sua terga (anguis), Ov. M. 3, 68: ora, id. ib. 4, 715: ora ad os Phoebi, id. ib. 11, 163: oculos saepe ad hanc urbem, * Cic. Cat. 2, 1, 2: oculos, Ov. M. 10, 696: omnium oculos in se, Quint. Decl. 8, 8: tergo bracchia, Hor. C. 3, 5, 22; cf.: manibus retortis, id. Ep. 2, 1, 191: cervices, Plin. Pan. 34, 3: ferocis equi colla, Ov. H. 4, 79: pantherae terga, to wrap about, cast about, Verg. A. 8, 460: amictum, id. ib. 12, 400: crinem, to crisp, frizzle, Mart. 6, 39, 6: litore violenter undas, to drive back, repulse, Hor. C. 1, 2, 13: Rhoetum unguibus leonis, id. ib. 2, 19, 23: vela ab Euboïcis aquis, Ov. Tr. 1, 1, 84: viam, i. e. to return by the same way, Claud. Phaen. 27: de bysso retorta, Vulg. Exod. 26, 1: missilia in hostem, Curt. 6, 1, 15: quod me retorsisti (a morte), Quint. Decl. 17, 18.
Mid.: ubi paulatim retorqueri agmen ad dextram conspexerunt, to wheel around, * Caes. B. C. 1, 69, 3.
- II. Trop.: animum ad praeterita, to turn or cast back, Sen. Ben. 3, 3, 3: scelus in auctorem, Just. 34, 4, 2; cf.: crimina in eum, Dig. 38, 2, 14, § 6; and simply argumentum, to retort upon one’s opponent, App. Flor. p. 360, 33: mentem, to alter, change, Verg. A. 12, 841.