answer
Americannoun
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a spoken or written reply or response to a question, request, letter, etc..
He sent an answer to my letter promptly.
- Synonyms:
- riposte
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a correct response to a question asked to test one's knowledge.
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an equivalent or approximation.
The band tried to be the French answer to the Beatles.
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an action serving as a reply or response.
The answer was a volley of fire.
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a solution to a problem, especially in mathematics.
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a reply to a charge or accusation.
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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.
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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)
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to speak or write in response; make answer; reply.
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to respond by an act or motion.
He answered with a nod.
The champion answered with a right to the jaw.
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to act or suffer in consequence of (usually followed byfor ).
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to be or declare oneself responsible or accountable (usually followed byfor ).
I will answer for his safety.
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to be satisfactory or serve (usually followed byfor ).
His cane answered for a baseball bat.
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to conform; correspond (usually followed byto ).
The prisoner answered to the description issued by the police.
verb (used with object)
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to speak or write in response to; reply to.
to answer a person;
to answer a question.
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to act or move in response to.
Answer the doorbell. We answered their goal with two quick goals of our own.
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to solve or present a solution of.
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to serve or fulfill.
This will answer the purpose.
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to discharge (a responsibility, claim, debt, etc.).
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to conform or correspond to; be similar or equivalent to.
This dog answers your description.
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to atone for; make amends for.
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to reply or respond favorably to.
I would like to answer your request but am unable to do so.
verb phrase
idioms
noun
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a reply, either spoken or written, as to a question, request, letter, or article
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a reaction or response in the form of an action
drunkenness was his answer to disappointment
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a solution, esp of a mathematical problem
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law
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a party's written reply to his opponent's interrogatories
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(in divorce law) the respondent's written reply to the petition
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a musical phrase that follows the subject of a fugue, reproducing it a fifth higher or a fourth lower
verb
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(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
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(tr) to reply correctly to; solve or attempt to solve
I could answer only three questions
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to respond or react (to a stimulus, command, etc)
the steering answers to the slightest touch
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(tr) to pay off (a debt, obligation, etc); discharge
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to meet the requirements (of); be satisfactory (for); serve the purpose (of)
this will answer his needs
this will answer for a chisel
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to match or correspond (esp in the phrase answer (or answer to ) the description )
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(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
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answerernoun
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answerlessadjective
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unansweredadjective
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unansweringadjective
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well-answeredadjective
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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answersimple
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answerssimple
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have answeredperfect
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has answeredperfect
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am answeringprogressive
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are answeringprogressive
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is answeringprogressive
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have been answeringperfect progressive
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has been answeringperfect progressive
Past
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answeredsimple
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had answeredperfect
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was answeringprogressive
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were answeringprogressive
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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
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Spelling Practice, Unit 7
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Spelling Practice 3, Unit 4
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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:
Rather than centralizing this power, we believe that delivering personal superintelligence to everyone is the way to answer this question.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 28, 2026
Not everyone has the ability to accept no as an answer, but it’s important to hold your ground.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 28, 2026
"The key science question we want to answer is: How common are wandering black holes?"
From Science Daily ● Jul. 28, 2026
Normally, not having an answer to the most basic of questions at this point in the summer would fail you.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 28, 2026
The plaque does not answer the question of Phineas's luck.
From "Phineas Gage" by John Fleischman
BBC Sport F1 correspondent Andrew Benson answers your latest questions after the race at the Hungaroring.
From BBC ● Jul. 28, 2026
No, not unless I had a system whose outputs I’d already tested, and I’d want to see how credible its answers are and how much they change with a different thesis.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 27, 2026
“Today” co-anchor Savannah Guthrie renewed her plea for information regarding her 84-year-old mother, Nancy Guthrie, whose disappearance nearly six months ago has baffled investigators and left her family searching for answers.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 27, 2026
Existing theories of satellite formation offer several possible answers, but recent research into stellar magnetic fields suggests that some of those ideas may need to be reconsidered.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 27, 2026
Isaac wrote about the answers he received through Maggie and Kate’s mediumship, “They always speak of seeing Matilda, they say she is happy around us.”
From "American Spirits" by Barb Rosenstock
The models, operating largely free of U.S. government restrictions, patiently answered, issuing step-by-step instructions described by company employees as simple enough for a high-school biology student to follow.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 26, 2026
When Hollywood beckoned, the boys answered the call, cavorting, cutting up and reconfiguring reality on the silver screen.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 25, 2026
This week Quentin Fottrell — The Moneyist — answered questions from a credit-card borrower who would like to have her cake and eat it too.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 24, 2026
After the jury foreman, when asked “How say you?” answered “Guilty,” 34 times, Trump turned to face the back of the room, looking uncharacteristically stricken.
From Slate ● Jul. 22, 2026
“Bat,” Mr. Grayson answered, “sometimes we have to wait. It’s good practice to delay gratification.”
From "A Boy Called Bat" by Elana K. Arnold
The moments in our interview where he was least sure-footed were answering questions about how he'd manage relationships with Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin.
From BBC ● Jul. 27, 2026
Ms. Lane has taken a rigorous approach to answering it, and those who continue in this line of inquiry would do well to follow her example.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 22, 2026
The hard thing about answering this question is that workers whose jobs are now exposed to AI have in the past typically had different end-of-career patterns than others.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 17, 2026
A physicist at the University of Birmingham has created a laboratory "mini universe" that brings scientists a step closer to answering one of the biggest questions in physics: What is time?
From Science Daily ● Jul. 9, 2026
As he did, he heard an answering squeal of pain.
From "Jeremy Thatcher, Dragon Hatcher" by Bruce Coville
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.
