answer
Americannoun
-
answers
plural
-
a spoken or written reply or response to a question, request, letter, etc..
He sent an answer to my letter promptly.
- Synonyms:
- riposte
-
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.
-
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)
-
answers,
present (3rd person singular)
-
answered,
past participle, past
-
answering
present participle
-
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)
-
answers,
present (3rd person singular)
-
answered,
past participle, past
-
answering
present participle
-
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
idioms
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)
Usage
Spelling tips for answer 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.
Synonym Usage
Answer, rejoinder, reply, response, retort all mean words used to meet a question, remark, charge, etc. An answer is a return remark: an answer giving the desired information. A rejoinder is a quick, usually clever answer or remark made in reply to another's comment, not to a question. Reply usually refers to a direct or point-by-point response to a suggestion, proposal, question, or the like: a reply to a letter. A response often suggests an answer to an appeal, exhortation, etc., or an expected or fixed reply: a response to inquiry; a response in a church service. A retort implies a keen, prompt answer, especially one that turns a remark upon the person who made it: a sharp retort.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
-
answerernoun
-
answerlessadjective
-
unansweredadjective
-
unansweringadjective
-
well-answeredadjective
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
answersimple
-
answerssimple
-
have answeredperfect
-
has answeredperfect
-
am answeringprogressive
-
are answeringprogressive
-
is answeringprogressive
-
have been answeringperfect progressive
-
has been answeringperfect progressive
Past
-
answeredsimple
-
had answeredperfect
-
was answeringprogressive
-
were answeringprogressive
-
had been answeringperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of answer
First recorded before 900; Middle English andswerien, Old English andswerian, andswarian, derivative of andswaru “an answer,” equivalent to and- “opposite, facing” ( cf. and, along) + unattested Germanic swarō, derivative of swear
Explanation
An answer is a response to a question, problem, or need. If you don’t get enough sleep, quitting your late-night TV habit might be the answer. Answer, which can be a noun or a verb, comes from the Old English for swear, and the word originally meant an official, sworn response to a legal charge. We don’t have to be sworn in when we answer a question, however, we just need to reply. Answer also means "solution." Is the answer to poverty better education? If you meet a requirement, you answer it. If you are obligated to someone, you answer to him.
Vocabulary lists containing answer
Unit 8
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
Spelling Practice, Unit 7
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
Spelling Practice 3, Unit 4
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
It listed 120 questions an immigration agent might ask, each paired with an answer to be memorized.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 1, 2026
"A voter who followed the answer would have asked for a ballot too late to use it," the study said.
From Barron's ● Nov. 1, 2026
But the hours-long back-and-forth ultimately didn't lead to a clearer answer about what might come next for Clancy - a dismissal of charges, retrial of the same charges, or retrial of lesser charges.
From BBC ● Nov. 1, 2026
"He has been poor for a while and he has had injury problems. He is not the answer."
From BBC ● Oct. 31, 2026
It had taken enormous courage for Wolf to answer his call.
From "Wolf Brother" by Michelle Paver
As AI lowers the cost of solving problems, human value shifts from producing an answer to asking the right questions and evaluating the answers generated.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 1, 2026
Scotland offers very few answers, but the questions tend to be wonderful.
From Slate ● Nov. 1, 2026
Spain was observing the second of three days of national mourning on Friday, with the public demanding answers just weeks before an early general election on November 29.
From Barron's ● Oct. 30, 2026
One promising solution is to use approximation algorithms, which calculate estimates rather than exact answers.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 30, 2026
Before I could reach down for it, Mrs. Lopez started reading out the answers to the homework problems.
From "Bye Forever, I Guess" by Jodi Meadows
On Sunday, no one answered the door of his barn-shaped house outside of town.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 1, 2026
The study, which examined eight models, also found that chatbots answered questions about voting logistics incorrectly more often than questions about candidates.
From Barron's ● Nov. 1, 2026
Police in Northern Ireland handle 30,000 mental health calls every year, or about 80 a day on average - but a major new policy will see a significant change in how those calls are answered.
From BBC ● Oct. 30, 2026
In an August poll conducted by Emerson College, nearly four in 10 Ohio voters answered “unsure/never heard of” when asked their opinion of the Republican incumbent.
From Salon ● Oct. 30, 2026
Bubbe asks, even though she hasn’t answered me.
From "Code Name Kingfisher" by Liz Kessler
The hybrid’s demeanor is more citified, answering throttle demand with an electric-enhanced alacrity and seizing every opportunity to go quiet and save energy.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 31, 2026
AI agents are programs that can carry out multi-step tasks on a user’s behalf -- such as searching for products, comparing prices and completing a purchase -- rather than only answering questions as chatbots do.
From Barron's ● Oct. 21, 2026
Several men, mostly middle-aged or older, hesitated before answering.
From BBC ● Oct. 19, 2026
Be wary of calling the number back or answering calls from unknown numbers.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 19, 2026
Before answering, Penelope glanced at the address Mrs. Clarke had written down for her, and craned her head out the window to see where they were.
From "The Hidden Gallery" by Maryrose Wood
Random Word
Spin the wheel and learn a new word!
Get a wordDefinitions 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.
