Lexic.us

Definition of Answer

1. Noun. A statement (either spoken or written) that is made to reply to a question or request or criticism or accusation. "He wrote replies to several of his critics"

2. Verb. React verbally. "They answer that there was a traffic accident "; "We answered that we would accept the invitation"

3. Noun. A statement that solves a problem or explains how to solve the problem. "He computed the result to four decimal places"

4. Verb. Respond to a signal. "Answer the telephone"

5. Noun. The speech act of replying to a question.

6. Verb. Give the correct answer or solution to. "Answer the riddle"

7. Noun. The principal pleading by the defendant in response to plaintiff's complaint; in criminal law it consists of the defendant's plea of 'guilty' or 'not guilty' (or nolo contendere); in civil law it must contain denials of all allegations in the plaintiff's complaint that the defendant hopes to controvert and it can contain affirmative defenses or counterclaims.

8. Verb. Understand the meaning of. "The question concerning the meaning of life cannot be answered"

9. Noun. A nonverbal reaction. "Their answer was to sue me"

10. Verb. Give a defence or refutation of (a charge) or in (an argument). "The defendant answered to all the charges of the prosecution"

11. Verb. Be liable or accountable. "She must answer for her actions"

12. Verb. Be sufficient; be adequate, either in quality or quantity. "Nothing else will serve"

13. Verb. Match or correspond. "The drawing of the suspect answers to the description the victim gave"

14. Verb. Be satisfactory for; meet the requirements of or serve the purpose of. "This may answer her needs"

15. Verb. React to a stimulus or command. "The steering of my new car answers to the slightest touch"

Definition of Answer

1. v. t. To speak in defense against; to reply to in defense; as, to answer a charge; to answer an accusation.

2. v. i. To speak or write by way of return (originally, to a charge), or in reply; to make response.

3. n. A reply to a change; a defense.

Definition of Answer

1. Noun. A response or reply; something said or done in reaction to a statement or question. ¹

2. Noun. A solution to a problem. ¹

3. Noun. (legal) A document filed in response to a complaint, responding to each point raised in the complaint and raising counterpoints. ¹

4. Verb. To make a reply or response to. ¹

5. Verb. To respond to a call by someone at a door or telephone, or other similar piece of equipment. ¹

6. Verb. To suit a need or purpose satisfactorily. ¹

7. Verb. (legal) To file a document in response to a complaint. ¹

8. Verb. To correspond to; to be in harmony with; to be in agreement with. ¹

¹ Source: wiktionary.com

Definition of Answer

1. to say, write, or act in return [v -ED, -ING, -S]

Medical Definition of Answer

1. 1. To speak or write by way of return (originally, to a charge), or in reply; to make response. "There was no voice, nor any that answered." (1 Kings xviii. 26) 2. To make a satisfactory response or return. Hence: To render account, or to be responsible; to be accountable; to make amends; as, the man must answer to his employer for the money intrusted to his care. "Let his neck answer for it, if there is any martial law." (Shak) 3. To be or act in return. Hence: To be or act by way of compliance, fulfillment, reciprocation, or satisfaction; to serve the purpose; as, gypsum answers as a manure on some soils. "Do the strings answer to thy noble hand?" (Dryden) To be opposite, or to act in opposition. To be or act as an equivalent, or as adequate or sufficient; as, a very few will answer. To be or act in conformity, or by way of accommodation, correspondence, relation, or proportion; to conform; to correspond; to suit; usually with to. "That the time may have all shadow and silence in it, and the place answer to convenience." (Shak) "If this but answer to my just belief, I 'll remember you." (Shak) "As in water face answereth to face, so the heart of man to man." (Pro. Xxvii. 19) 1. To speak in defense against; to reply to in defense; as, to answer a charge; to answer an accusation. 2. To speak or write in return to, as in return to a call or question, or to a speech, declaration, argument, or the like; to reply to (a question, remark, etc); to respond to. "She answers him as if she knew his mind." (Shak) "So spake the apostate angel, though in pain: . . . And him thus answered soon his bold compeer." (Milton) 3. To respond to satisfactorily; to meet successfully by way of explanation, argument, or justification, and the like; to refute. "No man was able to answer him a word." (Matt. Xxii. 46) "These shifts refuted, answer thine appellant." (Milton) "The reasoning was not and could not be answered." (Macaulay) 4. To be or act in return or response to. Hence: To be or act in compliance with, in fulfillment or satisfaction of, as an order, obligation, demand; as, he answered my claim upon him; the servant answered the bell. "This proud king . . . Studies day and night To answer all the debts he owes unto you." (Shak) To render account to or for. "I will . . . Send him to answer thee." (Shak) To atone; to be punished for. "And grievously hath Caezar answered it." (Shak) To be opposite to; to face. "The windows answering each other, we could just discern the glowing horizon them." (Gilpin) To be or act an equivalent to, or as adequate or sufficient for; to serve for; to repay. "Money answereth all things." (Eccles. X. 19) To be or act in accommodation, conformity, relation, or proportion to; to correspond to; to suit. "Weapons must needs be dangerous things, if they answered the bulk of so prodigious a person." (Swift) Origin: OE. Andswerien, AS. Andswerian, andswarian, to answer, fr. Andswaru, n, answer. See Answer. 1. A reply to a change; a defense. "At my first answer no man stood with me." (2 Tim. Iv. 16) 2. Something said or written in reply to a question, a call, an argument, an address, or the like; a reply. "A soft answer turneth away wrath." (Prov. Xv. 1) "I called him, but he gave me no answer." (Cant. V. 6) 3. Something done in return for, or in consequence of, something else; a responsive action. "Great the slaughter is Here made by the Roman; great the answer be Britons must take." (Shak) 4. A solution, the result of a mathematical operation; as, the answer to a problem. 5. A counter-statement of facts in a course of pleadings; a confutation of what the other party has alleged; a responsive declaration by a witness in reply to a question. In Equity, it is the usual form of defense to the complainant's charges in his bill. Synonym: Reply, rejoinder, response. See Reply. Origin: OE. Andsware, AS. Andswaru; and against + swerian to swear, . See Anti-, and Swear, and cf. 1st un-. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998)

Lexicographical Neighbors of Answer

anseriform anseriform bird anseriformes anserine anserine bursa anserine bursitis anserines ansermetite anserous ansible

ansibles ansiform ansiform lobule anslaight ansotomy answer (current term) answer back answer for answer on a postcard answer print

answer the helm answer to answerabilities answerability answerable answerableness answerably answered answered back

Literary usage of Answer

Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:

1. The Confessions of S. Augustine: Book I-X. by Augustine (1886)
"I confess to Thee, O Lord, that to the best of my remembrance (and I have oft spoken of this), I was far more impressed even then by that Thine answer, ..."

2. The Encyclopædia of Pleading and Practice: Under the Codes and Practice Acts by William Mark McKinney, Thomas Johnson Michie (1902)
"Evidence (see ADMISSIONS), i, 910 Action at law, i, 960 Admission oí answer of one defendant as evidence of the other, i, 953 Admissions in answer, I, ..."

3. Pleading Under the Codes: Adapted to Use in the Several States and by Charles Theodore Boone (1885)
"Quieting title—answer. — In an action to quiet title to real property, a denial of the plaintiff's possession forms an issue that must be tried.1 The direct ..."

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