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:
"So, why? Just hard work. Hard work from my engineers and from myself to improve me as a driver and improve my driving. That is the answer."
From BBC ● Jul. 26, 2026
The company set rules for what the models wouldn’t answer, which the company calls “refusals.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 26, 2026
Although some companies may be shy about sharing their AI plans, big stars who don’t have to answer to others have been more open about their embrace of the new technology for storytelling.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 26, 2026
The answer is that the universe can expand faster than light.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 25, 2026
The biggest question is the simplest one and the hardest to answer: Was Phineas lucky or unlucky?
From "Phineas Gage" by John Fleischman
It wasn’t clear whether the ExploitGym problems the model was trying to solve were more difficult than the attack it mounted to steal the answers—or if they even found any answers.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 24, 2026
As veterinarians seek answers, mate Shadow fuels questions about whether he’s “seeing” another female.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 24, 2026
“AI is known to give you answers you want,” said Ryan Marshall, a New York City-based chartered financial analyst.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 24, 2026
Neither Indonesian nor Singaporean authorities gave definitive answers to the BBC's previous queries about what they intend to do with the babies.
From BBC ● Jul. 23, 2026
At least a dozen of the Fox family’s neighbors remained crammed in the house, asking questions and receiving rapped answers.
From "American Spirits" by Barb Rosenstock
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
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
But the biggest question wasn't answered in court - what happens to the children now?
From BBC ● Jul. 21, 2026
Typically, Tesla’s head of investor relations reads out the top few questions to either be answered or dismissed by management, including Musk.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 20, 2026
I answered her in the same harsh way.
From "Nory Ryan’s Song" by Patricia Reilly Giff
Anthropic’s effective ban on Claude answering prompts that include the word “pathogen” has created challenges for employees at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, according to people familiar with the matter.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 26, 2026
If you'd closed your eyes you'd have been forgiven for thinking Kermit the Frog was answering BBC reporter Kelly Somers' questions.
From BBC ● Jul. 17, 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
My mind raced, but Peach took his time answering.
From Each Little Bird That Sings by Deborah Wiles
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.
