answer
Americannoun
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answers
plural
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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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answers,
present (3rd person singular)
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answered,
past participle, past
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answering
present participle
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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 ).
-
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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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.
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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:
The answer lies in how they made decisions about houses, college and work.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 26, 2026
Donnelly could not answer, which Sanchez said raised questions about the reliability of the list.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 25, 2026
McKay's answer is to have someone independent check the map before anyone uses it and rub out the lines that are wrong.
From BBC ● Oct. 25, 2026
But there are others that he only wants a human being to answer.
From Barron's ● Oct. 25, 2026
They never give a straight answer when we ask.
From "Split the Sky" by Marie Arnold
Here’s what I’m watching this morning: A week chockablock with market-moving events could finally give investors some answers about where stocks are really headed.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 26, 2026
Here’s what’s I’m watching this morning: A week chockablock with enough catalysts that we might finally get some answers about the direction of the market by the end of it.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 26, 2026
Fielder answers that question with his own questions, held over from the initial shoot.
From Salon ● Oct. 25, 2026
"Someone out there knows something, and we won't give up until we have answers," she said.
From BBC ● Oct. 24, 2026
Cracking joints do not explain specific accurate answers like those given to James Fenimore Cooper.
From "American Spirits" by Barb Rosenstock
"None of us had access to the emails from buyers. They came directly through him, he answered as if he was us."
From BBC ● Oct. 19, 2026
But you’ve already answered, so they will make a note in the database that yours is an active number.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 19, 2026
She stepped up to the mic and answered, “When I moved to China.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 17, 2026
Stupnikov answered with the words that had earlier made him chuckle: “Peanut shop.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 16, 2026
Nurse Yasunaga answered with a firm shake of her head.
From "Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes" by Eleanor Coerr
The company uses human-sounding voice AI agents to handle many tasks from answering calls to serving as virtual assistants.
From Barron's ● Oct. 23, 2026
In a vision statement, Nusseibeh pledged “speaking frankly with every government and answering to none. There will be no exemptions for friends and no grudges against critics.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 22, 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
Ella found her godmother in the room before answering yes.
From "The Marvellers" by Dhonielle Clayton
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
