Bostonian patriot ditching English tea vocally for his reply (6)
I believe the answer is:
revert
'reply' is the definition.
Although both the answer and definition are verbs in their base form, I cannot see how they can define each other.
I don't understand the rest of the clue.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for revert that I've seen before include "Return to (a previous state)" , "Return to (earlier state)" , "Go back to a previous state" , "Return to former state (6)" , "Go back to former state or habit" .)