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.
The New York Fed researchers didn’t have a definitive answer for why charged-off loans are staying on credit records longer, though they posited that perhaps lenders changed their reporting practices.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 11, 2026
Coupang CEO Harold Rogers was summoned to parliament in December 2025 over the deaths of Jang and Oh, as well as to answer for a recent data breach at his firm, involving 37.5 million users.
From BBC ● Jul. 24, 2026
“At the end of the day we’re going to be the best answer for a lot of people,” he said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 7, 2026
So maybe the answer for you is to push your contribution to 8% but make it all pretax, which would mitigate the hit on your current paycheck.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 29, 2026
Dad gave me this sad smile and said, “I think she needs space right now,” which seemed to be his answer for everything Mom-related these days.
From "The Science of Breakable Things" by Tae Keller
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.
