answer

American  

[an-ser, ahn-] / ˈæn sər, ˈɑn- /

noun

• answers
  plural

1. a spoken or written reply or response to a question, request, letter, etc..

   He sent an answer to my letter promptly.

   Synonyms:

   riposte

2. a correct response to a question asked to test one's knowledge.

3. an equivalent or approximation.

   The band tried to be the French answer to the Beatles.

4. an action serving as a reply or response.

   The answer was a volley of fire.

5. a solution to a problem, especially in mathematics.

6. a reply to a charge or accusation.

   Synonyms:

   plea, defense

7. 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.

8. Music. the entrance of a fugue subject, usually on the dominant, either slightly altered or transposed exactly after each presentation in the tonic.

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verb (used without object)

• answers,
  present (3rd person singular)
• answered,
  past participle,  past
• answering
  present participle

1. to speak or write in response; make answer; reply.

2. to respond by an act or motion.

   He answered with a nod.

   The champion answered with a right to the jaw.

3. to act or suffer in consequence of (usually followed byfor ).

4. to be or declare oneself responsible or accountable (usually followed byfor ).

   I will answer for his safety.

5. to be satisfactory or serve (usually followed byfor ).

   His cane answered for a baseball bat.

6. 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

1. to speak or write in response to; reply to.

   to answer a person;

   to answer a question.

2. to act or move in response to.

   Answer the doorbell. We answered their goal with two quick goals of our own.

3. to solve or present a solution of.

4. to serve or fulfill.

   This will answer the purpose.

5. to discharge (a responsibility, claim, debt, etc.).

6. to conform or correspond to; be similar or equivalent to.

   This dog answers your description.

7. to atone for; make amends for.

8. to reply or respond favorably to.

   I would like to answer your request but am unable to do so.

verb phrase

1. answer back to reply impertinently or rudely.

   Well-behaved children do not answer back when scolded.

idioms

1. answer the helm, (of a vessel) to maneuver or remain steady according to the position of the rudder.

answer British  

/ ˈɑːnsə /

noun

1. a reply, either spoken or written, as to a question, request, letter, or article

2. a reaction or response in the form of an action

   drunkenness was his answer to disappointment

3. a solution, esp of a mathematical problem

4. law

   1. a party's written reply to his opponent's interrogatories

   2. (in divorce law) the respondent's written reply to the petition

5. a musical phrase that follows the subject of a fugue, reproducing it a fifth higher or a fourth lower

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verb

1. (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

2. (tr) to reply correctly to; solve or attempt to solve

   I could answer only three questions

3. to respond or react (to a stimulus, command, etc)

   the steering answers to the slightest touch

4. (tr) to pay off (a debt, obligation, etc); discharge

5. to meet the requirements (of); be satisfactory (for); serve the purpose (of)

   this will answer his needs

   this will answer for a chisel

6. to match or correspond (esp in the phrase answer (or answer to ) the description )

7. (tr) to give a defence or refutation of (a charge) or in (an argument)

answer More Idioms  

More idioms and phrases containing answer

• know all the answers
• take no for an answer

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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

• answerer
  noun
• answerless
  adjective
• unanswered
  adjective
• unanswering
  adjective
• well-answered
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• answers
  plural

Participles

• answering
  present
• answered
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• answer
  simple
• answers
  simple
• have answered
  perfect
• has answered
  perfect
• am answering
  progressive
• are answering
  progressive
• is answering
  progressive
• have been answering
  perfect progressive
• has been answering
  perfect progressive

Past

• answered
  simple
• had answered
  perfect
• was answering
  progressive
• were answering
  progressive
• had been answering
  perfect progressive

Future

• will answer
  simple
• will have answered
  perfect
• will be answering
  progressive
• will have been answering
  perfect progressive

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.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

answer answers answered answering

I think back to my father’s brief answer, “I had cousins,” and hear it differently now.

From Slate ● Sep. 11, 2026

The answer: “We are the rucking company,” a grounding that recalled the company’s origin but also paved a path for growth.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 11, 2026

"So all these elements show you that it's not a very straightforward answer."

From BBC ● Sep. 10, 2026

On Thursday in Melbourne, about nine hours after they arrived, Coach Sean McVay looked and sounded happy that he no longer had to answer questions about the team’s travel strategy.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 10, 2026

These were confusing thoughts for which Clare had no immediate answer.

From "The Undead Fox of Deadwood Forest" by Aubrey Hartman

Now Anthropic alleges that China's Moonshot and Deepseek have also secretly used Claude to generate answers given to its users.

From Barron's ● Sep. 11, 2026

In the second episode, when Alice asks Rebecca if she’d ever considered her for the lead coach job, Rebecca curtly answers no.

From Salon ● Sep. 10, 2026

It is meant to provide quick answers to queries about the best time to plant or harvest crops and other business decisions, backed up with years of data from a farmer’s own fields.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 9, 2026

But heading into the 2026 season, there are many more questions than answers when it comes to the most important position on the field.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 9, 2026

But when I reach that house, a tidy little bungalow with a cat preening in the window, nobody answers the door.

From "The Brightwood Code" by Monica Hesse

That will be one of the questions that will be answered when the Super Bowl-favorite Rams open the season against the San Francisco 49ers at Melbourne Cricket Ground before a crowd of nearly 100,000 fans.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 10, 2026

"Depending on how you answered it it got easier or harder so it varied depending on how well you did."

From BBC ● Sep. 8, 2026

You are most like those and least like those when comparing how you answered with our survey respondents on American Culture.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 5, 2026

The report does not disclose how Moraes answered.

From Barron's ● Sep. 5, 2026

“Yes, Ida B,” he answered, turning toward me.

From "Ida B" by Katherine Hannigan

Part of that self-regulation relates to where Anthropic will invest its talent and computing power when it’s public, since it will have to focus on profitability and answering to more shareholders.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 11, 2026

But he said he wouldn’t trust the VA to conduct that process because of its failure to disclose that many veterans answering a survey expressed interest in a hotel.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 11, 2026

Wartsila said client confidentiality prevented it answering questions on why fail-safe monitoring equipment was not fitted on Glen Sannox, or who had access to its service notices.

From BBC ● Sep. 8, 2026

OpenAI said its work showed that these equations can break down over time, answering the question as set out by the Millennium Prize.

From Barron's ● Sep. 8, 2026

Instead of answering, Mother leaned toward the driver and asked, “Can you please turn left and take us to house number 197?”

From "City Spies" by James Ponti

Related Words

• comment
• explanation
• feedback
• interpretation
• justification
• key
• observation
• rebuttal
• remark
• report
• resolution
• response
• result
• return
• sign
• solution
• statement