answer

answer
    n 1: a statement (either spoken or written) that is made to
         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" [syn: {answer}, {reply},
         {response}]
    2: 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" [syn: {solution}, {answer},
       {result}, {resolution}, {solvent}]
    3: the speech act of replying to a question [ant: {enquiry},
       {inquiry}, {interrogation}, {query}, {question}]
    4: the principal 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 plaintiff's complaint that the defendant
       hopes to controvert and it can contain affirmative defenses
       or counterclaims
    5: a nonverbal reaction; "his answer to any problem was to get
       drunk"; "their answer was to sue me"
    v 1: react verbally; "She didn't want to answer"; "answer the
         question"; "We answered that we would accept the
         invitation" [syn: {answer}, {reply}, {respond}]
    2: respond to a signal; "answer the door"; "answer the
       telephone"
    3: give the correct answer or solution to; "answer a question";
       "answer the riddle"
    4: understand the meaning of; "The question concerning the
       meaning of life cannot be answered" [syn: {answer},
       {resolve}]
    5: give a defence or refutation of (a charge) or in (an
       argument); "The defendant answered to all the charges of the
       prosecution"
    6: be liable or accountable; "She must answer for her actions"
    7: 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" [syn: {suffice},
       {do}, {answer}, {serve}]
    8: match or correspond; "The drawing of the suspect answers to
       the description the victim gave"
    9: be satisfactory for; meet the requirements of or serve the
       purpose of; "This may answer her needs"
    10: react to a stimulus or command; "The steering of my new car
        answers to the slightest touch"
    

Answer \An"swer\, v. i.
   1. To speak or write by way of return (originally, to a
      charge), or in reply; to make response.
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            There was no voice, nor any that answered. --1 Kings
                                                  xviii. 26.
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   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.
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            Let his neck answer for it, if there is any martial
            law.                                  --Shak.
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   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.
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                Do the strings answer to thy noble hand?
                                                  --Dryden.
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      (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.
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                That the time may have all shadow and silence in
                it, and the place answer to convenience. --Shak.
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                If this but answer to my just belief,
                I 'll remember you.               --Shak.
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                As in water face answereth to face, so the heart
                of man to man.                    --Prov. xxvii.
                                                  19.
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Answer \An"swer\ ([a^]n"s[~e]r), v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Answered}
   ([a^]n"s[~e]rd); 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.
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   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.
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            She answers him as if she knew his mind. --Shak.
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            So spake the apostate angel, though in pain: . . .
            And him thus answered soon his bold compeer.
                                                  --Milton.
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   3. To respond to satisfactorily; to meet successfully by way
      of explanation, argument, or justification, and the like;
      to refute.
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            No man was able to answer him a word. --Matt. xxii.
                                                  46.
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            These shifts refuted, answer thine appellant.
                                                  --Milton.
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            The reasoning was not and could not be answered.
                                                  --Macaulay.
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   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.
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                This proud king . . . studies day and night
                To answer all the debts he owes unto you.
                                                  --Shak.
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      (b) To render account to or for.
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                I will . . . send him to answer thee. --Shak.
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      (c) To atone; to be punished for.
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                And grievously hath C[ae]zar answered it.
                                                  --Shak.
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      (d) To be opposite to; to face.
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                The windows answering each other, we could just
                discern the glowing horizon them. --Gilpin.
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      (e) To be or act an equivalent to, or as adequate or
          sufficient for; to serve for; to repay. [R.]
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                Money answereth all things.       --Eccles. x.
                                                  19.
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      (f) To be or act in accommodation, conformity, relation,
          or proportion to; to correspond to; to suit.
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                Weapons must needs be dangerous things, if they
                answered the bulk of so prodigious a person.
                                                  --Swift.
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Answer \An"swer\, n. [OE. andsware, AS. andswaru; and against +
   swerian to swear. [root]177, 196. See {Anti-}, and {Swear},
   and cf. 1st {un-}.]
   1. A reply to a charge; a defense.
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            At my first answer no man stood with me. --2 Tim.
                                                  iv. 16.
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   2. Something said or written in reply to a question, a call,
      an argument, an address, or the like; a reply.
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            A soft answer turneth away wrath.     --Prov. xv. 1.
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            I called him, but he gave me no answer. --Cant. v.
                                                  6.
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   3. Something done in return for, or in consequence of,
      something else; a responsive action.
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            Great the slaughter is
            Here made by the Roman; great the answer be
            Britons must take.                    --Shak.
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   4. A solution, the result of a mathematical operation; as,
      the answer to a problem.
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   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.
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   Syn: Reply; rejoinder; response. See {Reply}.
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ANSWER, pleading in equity. A defence in writing made by a defendant, to the
charges contained in a bill or information, filed by the plaintiff against
him in a court of equity. The word answer involves a double sense; it is one
thing when it simply replies to a question, another when it meets a charge;
the answer in equity includes both senses, and may be divided into an
examination and a defence. In that part which consists of an examination, a
direct and full answer, or reply, must in general be given to every question
asked. In that part which consists of a defence, the defendant must state
his, case distinctly; but is not required to give information respecting the
proofs that are to maintain it. Gresl. Eq. Ev. 19.
     2. As a defendant is called by a bill or information to make a
discovery of the several charges it contains, he must do so, unless he is
protected either by a demurrer a plea or disclaimer. It may be laid down as
an invariable rule, that whatever part of a bill or information is not
covered by one of these, must be defended by answer. Redesd. Tr. Ch. Pl.
244.
     3. In form, it usually begins, 1st, with its title, specifying which of
the defendants it is the answer of, and the names of the plaintiffs in the
cause in which it is filed as answer; 2d, it reserves to the defendant all
the advantages which might be taken by exception to the bill; 3d, the
substance of the answer, according to the defendant's knowledge,
remembrance, information and belief, then follows, in which the matter of
the bill, with the interrogatories founded thereon, are answered, one after
the other, together with such additional matter as the defendant thinks
necessary to bring forward in his, defence, either for the purpose of
qualifying, or adding to, the case made by the bill, or to state a new case
on his own behalf; 4th, this is followed by a general traverse or denial of
all unlawful combinations charged in the bill, and of all other matters
therein contained 5th, the answer is always upon oath or affirmation, except
in the case of a corporation, in which case it is under the corporate seal.
     4. In substance, the answer ought to contain, 1st, a statement of facts
and not arguments 2d, a confession and avoidance, or traverse and denial of
the material parts of the bill 3d, its language ought to be direct and
without evasion. Vide generally as to answers, Redes. Tr. Ch. Pl. 244 to
254; Coop. Pl. Eq. 312 to 327; Beames Pl. Eq. 34 et seq.; Bouv. Inst. Index,
h.t. For an historical account of this instrument, see 2 Bro. Civ. Law,
371, n. and Barton's Hist. Treatise of a Suit in Equity.
    

ANSWER, practice. The declaration of a fact by a witness after a question
has been put asking for it.
     2. If a witness unexpectedly state facts against the interest of the
party calling him, other witnesses may be called by the same party, to
disprove those facts. But the party calling a witness cannot discredit him,
by calling witnesses to prove his bad character for truth and veracity, or
by proving that he has made statements out of court contrary to what he has
sworn on the trial; B. N. P.; for the production of the witness is virtually
an assertion by the party producing him, that he is credible.
    

507 Moby Thesaurus words for "answer":
      Agnus Dei, Benedicite, ESP, Gloria, Gloria Patri,
      Gloria in Excelsis, Introit, Magnificat, Miserere, Nunc Dimittis,
      Parthian shot, Te Deum, Trisagion, Vedic hymn, accomplishment,
      accord, acknowledge, acknowledgment, action, action and reaction,
      ad hoc measure, address, advance, advantage, advocate, affect,
      affirmation, agree, allegation, allege in support, alleluia,
      answer back, answer conclusively, answer for, answer to, anthem,
      antiphon, antiphonal chanting, antiphony, apostrophe, appertain to,
      apply to, approach, argue down, argue for, argument, artifice,
      ascertainment, assent, assert, assertion, assort with, atone for,
      automatic reaction, autonomic reaction, avail, averment, be OK,
      be consistent, be equal to, be handy, be of one, be of use,
      be right, be uniform with, bear, bear on, bear upon, befit,
      befitting, belong to, benefit, bestead, billet, bottom, bounceback,
      business letter, canticle, champion, chant, check, chime, chit,
      chorale, clear up, clearing up, coequal, cohere, coincide,
      come back, come back at, come in, comeback, comment, commerce,
      communicate with, communication, communion, complement,
      complete answer, concern, concur, conform, conform to,
      conform with, confound, confounding, confutation, confute,
      congress, connect, connection, consist with, contact, contend for,
      contradict, contradiction, contrivance, controversion, controvert,
      conversation, converse, cooperate, correspond, correspond to,
      correspondence, counter, countercharge, countermove,
      counterstatement, coup, course of action, crack, cracking, crush,
      deal with, dealing, dealings, debug, decipher, decipherment,
      declaration, decode, decoding, defeat, defence, defend, defense,
      demarche, demolish, demolition, demurrer, denial, denouement, deny,
      determination, device, dictum, discrediting, disentangle,
      disentanglement, dismiss, dispatch, dispose of, disprove, divine,
      do, do it, do the job, do the trick, dodge, dope, dope out,
      dovetail, doxology, echo, effective rejoinder, effort, end,
      end result, epistle, espouse, establish connection, exception,
      exchange, exclamation, expedient, explain, explanation, expression,
      fall in together, fathom, favor, figure out, fill, fill the bill,
      find out, find the answer, find the solution, finding, finding-out,
      finish, fit, fit together, flash back, floor, forward, fulfill,
      get, get by, get right, get to, gimmick, give acknowledgment,
      give answer, give good returns, go around, go together, go with,
      greeting, guarantee, guess, guess right, hack it, hallelujah,
      hang together, harmonize, have connection with, have it, hit,
      hit it, hold, hold together, hosanna, hymn, hymn of praise,
      hymnody, hymnography, hymnology, improvisation, information,
      interaction, interchange, intercommunication, intercommunion,
      intercourse, interest, interjection, interlock, interplay,
      interpret, interpretation, interrogate, intersect, involve, issue,
      jibe, jury-rig, jury-rigged expedient, just do, justification,
      last expedient, last resort, last shift, laud, letter, liaise with,
      line, linguistic intercourse, link with, lock, maintain,
      make a plea, make advances, make contact with, make out,
      make overtures, make the grade, make up to, makeshift, maneuver,
      mantra, match, means, measure, meet, meet requirements, mention,
      message, missive, motet, move, nonplus, not come amiss, note,
      objection, observation, offertory, offertory sentence,
      open the lock, outcome, overlap, overthrow, overthrowal, overturn,
      overwhelm, paean, parallel, parry, pass, pass muster, pay, pay off,
      pertain to, phrase, pis aller, plea, plead for, pleading, plumb,
      position, predictable response, profit, promote, pronouncement,
      psalm, psalmody, psych, psych out, put to silence, puzzle out,
      qualify, question, raise, ravel, ravel out, reach, react, reaction,
      reason, rebut, rebuttal, rebutter, reciprocate, recognize,
      recriminate, reduce to silence, reecho, refer to, reflection,
      reflex, reflex action, refluence, reflux, refutal, refutation,
      refute, regard, register, register with, rejoin, rejoinder, relate,
      relate to, remark, replication, reply, reply to, report, rescript,
      resolution, resolve, resolving, resort, resource, respect, respond,
      respond to, respondence, response, responsory, responsory report,
      result, retort, retroaction, return, return answer,
      return for answer, reverberate, reverberation, revulsion, riddle,
      riddling, riposte, rise, satisfy, say, say in defense,
      say in reply, saying, sentence, serve, serve the purpose, settle,
      shake-up, shift, shoot back, shut up, silence, sing in chorus,
      smash all opposition, snap back, social intercourse, solution,
      solve, solving, sort out, sort with, sorting out, speak for,
      speak up for, speaking, special demurrer, special pleading, speech,
      speech circuit, speech situation, sponsor, square, square with,
      squash, squelch, stand, stand together, stand up, stand up for,
      statement, statement of defense, step, stick up for, stopgap,
      stratagem, stretch, stroke, stroke of policy, subjoinder,
      subversion, subvert, suffice, suit, suit the occasion, support,
      surrebuttal, surrebutter, surrejoinder, sustain, tactic, take it,
      take the bait, talk back, talking, tally, telepathy,
      temporary expedient, thought, tie in with, touch, touch upon,
      traffic, treat of, trick, truck, trump, two-way communication,
      undermine, undermining, undo, unlock, unravel, unraveling,
      unriddle, unriddling, unscramble, unscrambling, unspinning,
      untangle, untangling, unthinking response, untwist, untwisting,
      unweave, unweaving, uphold, upset, upsetting, upshot,
      urge reasons for, utterance, versicle, word, work, work out,
      working, working hypothesis, working proposition, working-out,
      yield a profit