answer for
Britishverb
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to be liable or responsible for (a person's actions, behaviour, etc)
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to vouch for or speak on behalf of (a person)
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to suffer or atone for (one's wrongdoing)
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Take responsibility for, take charge of, as in The new alarm system has to answer for the security of the grounds . [Late 1200s]
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Take the blame for, as in The kids who were caught shoplifting have a lot to answer for . [c. 1200]
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To vouch for or sponsor someone, as in I'll answer for John as a reliable employee . [Early 1700s]
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.
“There is no universal long-term-care financing. This is a space that is super costly — and there’s no answer for the families, the spouses, sons and daughters who are providing care,” Zissimopoulos said.
From MarketWatch • Jun. 24, 2026
There are software tools that run the calculations back and forth until they converge on an answer for a given person’s circumstances.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 23, 2026
England's sloppiness was compounded by the fact Spain produced one of their best performances to date and Wiegman could not come up with an answer for it.
From BBC • Jun. 9, 2026
“Frankly, I don’t have a good answer for that.”
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 6, 2026
“I don’t have an answer for that. I do know that our adoption hours are Tuesday through Saturday from 10 to 7, and Sundays noon to 5.”
From "The Miscalculations of Lightning Girl" by Stacy McAnulty
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.
