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Sentence example:

(sarcastically) “If only there was a machine for you to contact me and ask me what to do... Oh, right!" he _____. [“A phone.”]

What's the verb for that? Or maybe there's a phrasal verb?

edit: found some possible options. Please comment on the options:

• to taunt - provoke or challenge someone with insulting remarks

• to gibe - make insulting or mocking remarks

• to needle - provoke or annoy someone

• to bait - deliberately annoy or taunt

and also snark (suggested by KillingTime)

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  • The quotative (and report) verb snarl gets across the vitriol, but not necessarily antiphrasis. In the same ballpark are bark and growl.
    – Edwin Ashworth
    Jul 26, 2019 at 13:52
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    I'm tempted to suggest "snarked" but that is more mocking than sarcastic.
    – KillingTime
    Jul 26, 2019 at 13:57
  • @KillingTime mocking and sarcasm are pretty close as things go.
    – Mitch
    Jul 26, 2019 at 15:48
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    a machine you could contact me with
    – Lambie
    Jul 26, 2019 at 17:46
  • It's not really sarcasm if you spoon feed it like that.
    – Phil Sweet
    Jul 26, 2019 at 20:45

2 Answers 2

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From Merriam-Webster:

Snipe: intransitive verb

to aim a carping or snide attack

Sharpshooters who kill from a hiding place are sometimes called "snipers." The Merriam-Webster entry suggests that this is the earlier sense of the word. But it provides two Recent Examples on the Web, both using the word for carping or snide remarks. Here's one:

Wringing jokes out of a field of candidates who mostly agree with each other — and who didn’t snipe at each other as viciously as the bloated Republican field did four years ago — wasn’t the simplest thing.

— Steve Johnson, chicagotribune.com, "Late-night TV confronts a tough question: Are Democratic candidates funny?," 28 June 2019

And not from Merriam-Webster any longer:

We're going to hear a lot of spirited discussion about the President's plan in the next few days and weeks and that's fine as long as everyone comes ready to talk and not just snipe, complain and argue.

— George Allen

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  • @Cascabel Are you asking me to type the text I've displayed as a graphic image?
    – Chaim
    Jul 26, 2019 at 17:25
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    That's a plan, Stan. At least the pertinent parts. Images are not readable. That's why you have "Body must be at least 30 characters." at the bottom of your answer.
    – Cascabel_StandWithUkraine_
    Jul 26, 2019 at 17:26
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    @Cascabel Well okay, Ollie... But I liked it better before.
    – Chaim
    Jul 26, 2019 at 17:30
  • "Snark" is a bit more informal but another alternative.
    – Hot Licks
    Jul 26, 2019 at 17:35
2

I suggest “sneer”. It has a contemptuous feel to it.

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