Counterblast

Word of the Day for Thursday, December 20, 2012

Counterblast \koun-ter-blast\, noun:

An unrestrained and vigorously powerful response to an attacking statement.

In my view it's really a matter of style. For getting me most effective counterblast, I mean. You don't want to counterblast them in their own style. They're to meeting such counterblasts, anyhow.
-- William Cooper, You're Not Alone

On 26 September 1920 Woolf wrote in her diary that she was 'making up a paper upon Women, as a counterblast to Mr Bennett's adverse views reported in the papers' and this turned into 'A Society'.
-- Virginia Woolf, introduction by David Bradshaw, "The Proper Stuff for Fiction," The Mark on the Wall

Counterblast, predictably, comes from the roots "counter" and "blast." It came into common English usage in the 1560s. The prefix counter- originates in the Latin word contrā which meant "against, to return." Blast, on the other hand, originates in Old English, from the word blǽst, which meant "to blow."

Thanks to: www.dictionary.com