answer

[an·swer]

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.

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To speak in defense against; to reply to in defense; as, to answer a charge; to answer an accusation.

Noun
a nonverbal reaction; "his answer to any problem was to get drunk"; "their answer was to sue me"

Noun
the principle pleading by the defendant in response to plaintiff''s complaint; in criminal law it consists of the defendant''s plea of `guilty'' or `not guilty'' (or nolo contendere); in civil law it must contain denials of all allegations in the plaintif

Noun
a statement that solves a problem or explains how to solve the problem; "they were trying to find a peaceful solution"; "the answers were in the back of the book"; "he computed the result to four decimal places"

Noun
a statement (either spoken or written) that is made in reply to a question or request or criticism or accusation; "I waited several days for his answer"; "he wrote replies to several of his critics"

Noun
the speech act of replying to a question

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Verb
understand the meaning of; "The question concerning the meaning of life cannot be answered"

Verb
give the correct answer or solution to; "answer a question"; "answer the riddle"

Verb
react to a stimulus or command; "The steering of my new car answers to the slightest touch"

Verb
respond to a signal; "answer the door"; "answer the telephone"

Verb
give a defence or refutation of (a charge) or in (an argument); "The defendant answered to all the charges of the prosecution"

Verb
reply or respond to; "She didn''t want to answer"; "answer the question"; "We answered that we would accept the invitation"

Verb
be satisfactory for; meet the requirements of or serve the purpose of; "This may answer her needs"

Verb
match or correspond; "The drawing of the suspect answers to the description the victim gave"

Verb
be sufficient; be adequate, either in quality or quantity; "A few words would answer"; "This car suits my purpose well"; "Will $100 do?"; "A ''B'' grade doesn''t suffice to get me into medical school"; "Nothing else will serve"

Verb
be liable or accountable; "She must answer for her actions"


n.
To speak in defense against; to reply to in defense; as, to answer a charge; to answer an accusation.

n.
To speak or write in return to, as in return to a call or question, or to a speech, declaration, argument, or the like; to reply to (a question, remark, etc.); to respond to.

n.
To respond to satisfactorily; to meet successfully by way of explanation, argument, or justification, and the like; to refute.

n.
To be or act in return or response to.

n.
To be or act in compliance with, in fulfillment or satisfaction of, as an order, obligation, demand; as, he answered my claim upon him; the servant answered the bell.

n.
To render account to or for.

n.
To atone; to be punished for.

n.
To be opposite to; to face.

n.
To be or act an equivalent to, or as adequate or sufficient for; to serve for; to repay.

n.
To be or act in accommodation, conformity, relation, or proportion to; to correspond to; to suit.

v. i.
To speak or write by way of return (originally, to a charge), or in reply; to make response.

v. i.
To make a satisfactory response or return.

v. i.
To render account, or to be responsible; to be accountable; to make amends; as, the man must answer to his employer for the money intrusted to his care.

v. i.
To be or act in return.

v. i.
To be or act by way of compliance, fulfillment, reciprocation, or satisfaction; to serve the purpose; as, gypsum answers as a manure on some soils.

v. i.
To be opposite, or to act in opposition.

v. i.
To be or act as an equivalent, or as adequate or sufficient; as, a very few will answer.

v. i.
To be or act in conformity, or by way of accommodation, correspondence, relation, or proportion; to conform; to correspond; to suit; -- usually with to.

n.
A reply to a change; a defense.

n.
Something said or written in reply to a question, a call, an argument, an address, or the like; a reply.

n.
Something done in return for, or in consequence of, something else; a responsive action.

n.
A solution, the result of a mathematical operation; as, the answer to a problem.

n.
A counter-statement of facts in a course of pleadings; a confutation of what the other party has alleged; a responsive declaration by a witness in reply to a question. In Equity, it is the usual form of defense to the complainant's charges in his bill.


Answer

An"swer , v. t. [imp. & p. p. Answered ; p. pr. & vb. n. Answering.] [OE. andswerien, AS. andswerian, andswarian, to answer, fr. andswaru, n., answer. See Answer, n.] 1. To speak in defense against; to reply to in defense; as, to answer a charge; to answer an accusation. 2. To speak or write in return to, as in return to a call or question, or to a speech, declaration, argument, or the like; to reply to (a question, remark, etc.); to respond to.
She answers him as if she knew his mind.
So spake the apostate angel, though in pain: . . . And him thus answered soon his bold compeer.
3. To respond to satisfactorily; to meet successfully by way of explanation, argument, or justification, and the like; to refute.
No man was able to answer him a word.
These shifts refuted, answer thine appellant.
The reasoning was not and could not be answered.
4. To be or act in return or response to. Hence: (a) To be or act in compliance with, in fulfillment or satisfaction of, as an order, obligation, demand; as, he answered my claim upon him; the servant answered the bell.
This proud king . . . studies day and night To answer all the debts he owes unto you.
(b) To render account to or for.
I will . . . send him to answer thee.
(c) To atone; to be punished for.
And grievously hath C'91zar answered it.
(d) To be opposite to; to face.
The windows answering each other, we could just discern the glowing horizon them.
(e) To be or act an equivalent to, or as adequate or sufficient for; to serve for; to repay. [R.]
Money answereth all things.
(f) To be or act in accommodation, conformity, relation, or proportion to; to correspond to; to suit.
Weapons must needs be dangerous things, if they answered the bulk of so prodigious a person.

Answer

An"swer, v. i. 1. To speak or write by way of return (originally, to a charge), or in reply; to make response.
There was no voice, nor any that answered.
2. To make a satisfactory response or return. Hence: To render account, or to be responsible; to be accountable; to make amends; as, the man must answer to his employer for the money intrusted to his care.
Let his neck answer for it, if there is any martial law.
3. To be or act in return. Hence: (a) To be or act by way of compliance, fulfillment, reciprocation, or satisfaction; to serve the purpose; as, gypsum answers as a manure on some soils.
Do the strings answer to thy noble hand?
(b) To be opposite, or to act in opposition. (c) To be or act as an equivalent, or as adequate or sufficient; as, a very few will answer. (d) To be or act in conformity, or by way of accommodation, correspondence, relation, or proportion; to conform; to correspond; to suit; -- usually with to.
That the time may have all shadow and silence in it, and the place answer to convenience.
If this but answer to my just belief, I 'll remember you.
As in water face answereth to face, so the heart of man to man.

Answer

An"swer, n. [OE. andsware, AS. andswaru; and against + swerian to swear. , . See Anti-, and Swear, and cf. 1st un-.] 1. A reply to a change; a defense.
At my first answer no man stood with me.
2. Something said or written in reply to a question, a call, an argument, an address, or the like; a reply.
A soft answer turneth away wrath.
I called him, but he gave me no answer.
3. Something done in return for, or in consequence of, something else; a responsive action.
Great the slaughter is Here made by the Roman; great the answer be Britons must take.
4. A solution, the result of a mathematical operation; as, the answer to a problem. 5. (Law) A counter-statement of facts in a course of pleadings; a confutation of what the other party has alleged; a responsive declaration by a witness in reply to a question. In Equity, it is the usual form of defense to the complainant's charges in his bill. Bouvier. Syn. -- Reply; rejoinder; response. See Reply.

To speak in defense against; to reply to in defense; as, to answer a charge; to answer an accusation.

To speak or write by way of return (originally, to a charge), or in reply; to make response.

A reply to a change; a defense.

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Usage Examples

But you know, my dad called me the laziest white kid he ever met. When I screamed back at him that he was putting down a race of people to call me lazy, his answer was that's not what he was doing, and that I was also the dumbest white kid he ever met.

A Nicklaus Design golf course is done by the guys in my company that I work with, that have been trained in my vision, and they do what they think I might do. They might come in the office and ask me questions and I'd certainly answer their questions, but I'm not involved in the site visits or anything else.

And the Republican Party especially associates the market with the idea of progress, goodness, family, and points us toward the mall as an answer to all our personal dreams.

And obviously, with hindsight now, now knowing what went on in the company, it would have been absolutely appropriate back then for us to have the chief executive of the company, most senior person in the United Kingdom, come and answer for the policy they were pursuing. And we ducked that, and frankly that's a failure of Parliament.

A city is a place where there is no need to wait for next week to get the answer to a question, to taste the food of any country, to find new voices to listen to and familiar ones to listen to again.

By asking the question 'Am I happy?,' and via the answer setting out what I mean by happiness, there is a political route that can be taken, by asking another question - 'Can politics deliver happiness, and should it try?'

And in terms of their crown jewel legislative achievement: who knew that when asked, 'will government impose a new federal mandate requiring middle class Americans to buy health insurance whether they can afford it or not?' The answer would be 'Yes we can!'

Accuracy is paramount in every detail of a work of history. Here's my rule: Ask yourself, 'Did this thing happen?' If the answer is yes, then it's historical. Then ask, 'Did this thing happen precisely this way?' If the answer is yes, then it's history if the answer is no, not precisely this way, then it's historical drama.

Misspelled Form

answer, qanswer, wanswer, sanswer, zanswer, qnswer, wnswer, snswer, znswer, aqnswer, awnswer, asnswer, aznswer, abnswer, ahnswer, ajnswer, amnswer, a nswer, abswer, ahswer, ajswer, amswer, a swer, anbswer, anhswer, anjswer, anmswer, an swer, anaswer, anwswer, aneswer, andswer, anxswer, anzswer, anawer, anwwer, anewer, andwer, anxwer, anzwer, ansawer, answwer, ansewer, ansdwer, ansxwer, anszwer, ansqwer, ans2wer, ans3wer, ansewer, ansawer, ansswer, ansqer, ans2er, ans3er, anseer, ansaer, ansser, answqer, answ2er, answ3er, answeer, answaer, answser, answwer, answ3er, answ4er, answrer, answser, answder, answwr, answ3r, answ4r, answrr, answsr, answdr, answewr, answe3r, answe4r, answerr, answesr, answedr, answeer, answe4r, answe5r, answetr, answefr, answee, answe4, answe5, answet, answef, answere, answer4, answer5, answert, answerf.

Other Usage Examples

A wise man can learn more from a foolish question than a fool can learn from a wise answer.

Does the imam have a legal right to build the mosque at Ground Zero? The answer is yes. But is it the right thing to do? The answer is no. And most Americans, and most moderate Muslims, join with me in that call.

After about 20 years of marriage, I'm finally starting to scratch the surface of what women want. And I think the answer lies somewhere between conversation and chocolate.

Doctors will have more lives to answer for in the next world than even we generals.

As one digs deeper into the national character of the Americans, one sees that they have sought the value of everything in this world only in the answer to this single question: how much money will it bring in?

By nature's kindly disposition most questions which it is beyond a man's power to answer do not occur to him at all.

Bill Gates is a very rich man today... and do you want to know why? The answer is one word: versions.

But when will our leaders learn - war is not the answer.

But do I think that our actions in anyway violate the War Powers Resolution, the answer is no.

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