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answer
[an-ser, ahn-]
noun
a spoken or written reply or response to a question, request, letter, etc..
He sent an answer to my letter promptly.
Synonyms:a correct response to a question asked to test one's knowledge.
an equivalent or approximation.
The band tried to be the French answer to the Beatles.
an action serving as a reply or response.
The answer was a volley of fire.
a solution to a problem, especially in mathematics.
a reply to a charge or accusation.
Synonyms: ,Law.a pleading in which a party responds to the opponent's statement of position, especially the defendant's reply to the plaintiff's complaint.
Music.the entrance of a fugue subject, usually on the dominant, either slightly altered or transposed exactly after each presentation in the tonic.
verb (used without object)
to speak or write in response; make answer; reply.
to respond by an act or motion.
He answered with a nod.
The champion answered with a right to the jaw.
to act or suffer in consequence of (usually followed byfor ).
to be or declare oneself responsible or accountable (usually followed byfor ).
I will answer for his safety.
to be satisfactory or serve (usually followed byfor ).
His cane answered for a baseball bat.
to conform; correspond (usually followed byto ).
The prisoner answered to the description issued by the police.
verb (used with object)
to speak or write in response to; reply to.
to answer a person;
to answer a question.
to act or move in response to.
Answer the doorbell. We answered their goal with two quick goals of our own.
to solve or present a solution of.
to serve or fulfill.
This will answer the purpose.
to discharge (a responsibility, claim, debt, etc.).
to conform or correspond to; be similar or equivalent to.
This dog answers your description.
to atone for; make amends for.
to reply or respond favorably to.
I would like to answer your request but am unable to do so.
verb phrase
to reply impertinently or rudely.
Well-behaved children do not answer back when scolded.
answer
/ ˈɑːԲə /
noun
a reply, either spoken or written, as to a question, request, letter, or article
a reaction or response in the form of an action
drunkenness was his answer to disappointment
a solution, esp of a mathematical problem
law
a party's written reply to his opponent's interrogatories
(in divorce law) the respondent's written reply to the petition
a musical phrase that follows the subject of a fugue, reproducing it a fifth higher or a fourth lower
verb
(when tr, may take a clause as object) to reply or respond (to) by word or act
to answer a question
he answered
to answer the door
he answered that he would come
(tr) to reply correctly to; solve or attempt to solve
I could answer only three questions
to respond or react (to a stimulus, command, etc)
the steering answers to the slightest touch
(tr) to pay off (a debt, obligation, etc); discharge
to meet the requirements (of); be satisfactory (for); serve the purpose (of)
this will answer his needs
this will answer for a chisel
to match or correspond (esp in the phrase answer (or answer to ) the description )
(tr) to give a defence or refutation of (a charge) or in (an argument)
Other 51Թ Forms
- answerer noun
- answerless adjective
- unanswered adjective
- unanswering adjective
- well-answered adjective
51Թ History and Origins
51Թ History and Origins
Origin of answer1
Idioms and Phrases
answer the helm, (of a vessel) to maneuver or remain steady according to the position of the rudder.
Synonym Study
Example Sentences
If the answer is yes, they will need to wait three months to donate blood, but are still eligible to donate plasma.
In the ensuing days, the answers have become no clearer, according to farmers, worker advocates and elected officials.
“And the answer always was, ‘We don’t know anything.’”
Mahler has no answers for the purpose of life.
The Tigers answered with three straight singles and a 368-foot bomb from Jared Jones to claim a 4-3 lead in the first.
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Related 51Թs
When To Use
The word answer is hard to spell because the w is silent. Answer is pronounced [ an-ser ]. How to spell answer: First, remember that answer has a silent w. To remember that you should place the silent w immediately after the s, remember that you can abbreviate silent w as sw.
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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