Words nearby answer
ansi, ansiform, anson, ansonia, anstoss, answer, answer back, answer for, answer print, answer to, answerable
Idioms for answer
answer the helm, Nautical. (of a vessel) to maneuver or remain steady according to the position of the rudder.
Origin of answer
OTHER WORDS FROM answer
synonym study for answer
1. 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.
historical usage of answer
In English, the verb answer derives from the noun, though both are equally old and occur in Old English translations of the Gospels. The Old English noun is andswaru “response to a question,” composed of the Old English prefix and- “against, contra-” and -swer with two meanings: the legal sense of “a swearing on oath, as in giving testimony” and the neutral, nonlegal sense of “a reply, a response to a question.” In both its legal and general senses, Old English andswaru parallels the Latin verb respondēre, originally a legal term meaning “to make a formal response,” and then used in the general sense “to answer, reply.”
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019
Examples from the Web for answer
British Dictionary definitions for answer
answer
/ (ˈɑːnsə) /
noun
verb
Word Origin for answer
Old English andswaru an answer; related to Old Frisian ondser, Old Norse andsvar; see swear
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Idioms and Phrases with answer
answer
In addition to the idioms beginning with answer
- answer back
- answer for
- answer to
also see:
- know all the answers
- take no for an answer
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.