an·swer (?n?s?r)n.1. a. A spoken or written reply, as to a question.b. A correct reply.2. a. A solution, as to a problem.b. A correct solution.3. An act in response or retaliation: Our only possible answer was to sue.4. Something markedly similar to another of the same class: cable TV’s answer to the commercial networks’ sportscasts.5. Law A defendant’s response to the allegations against him or her.v. an·swered, an·swer·ing, an·swers v.intr.1. To speak or write as a return, as to a question.2. To act in response: Their team scored, but our team answered with a quick goal. 3. To be liable or accountable: You must answer for your actions to your supervisor. 4. To serve the purpose; suffice: “Often I do use three words where one would answer” (Mark Twain).5. To correspond; match: I found a dog answering to that description.v.tr.1. a. To speak or write in response to: answer a question.b. To say or write in reply: He answered that he was unable to join us.c. To argue in defense of oneself against (an accusation or charge).2. To act in response to: The police answered the call for help. The soldiers answered the attack.3. To be sufficient for (a need, for instance); fulfill: “My fortune has answered my desires” (Izaak Walton).4. To conform or correspond to: The suspect answers the description given by the police.[Middle English answere, from Old English andswaru; see swer- in Indo-European roots.]Synonyms: answer, respond, reply, retort1 These verbs relate to action taken in return to a stimulus. Answer, respond, and reply, the most general, all mean to speak, write, or act in response: Please answer my question. Did you expect the president to respond personally to your letter? The opposing team scored three runs; the home team replied with two of their own. Respond also denotes a reaction, either voluntary (A bystander responded to the victim’s need for help) or involuntary (She responded in spite of herself to the antics of the puppy). To retort is to answer verbally in a quick, caustic, or witty manner: She won the debate by retorting sharply to her opponent’s questions. See Also Synonyms at satisfy.American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.answer (???ns?) n1. a reply, either spoken or written, as to a question, request, letter, or article2. a reaction or response in the form of an action: drunkenness was his answer to disappointment. 3. a solution, esp of a mathematical problem4. (Law) law a. a party’s written reply to his opponent’s interrogatoriesb. (in divorce law) the respondent’s written reply to the petition5. (Classical Music) a musical phrase that follows the subject of a fugue, reproducing it a fifth higher or a fourth lowervb6. (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. 7. (tr) to reply correctly to; solve or attempt to solve: I could answer only three questions. 8. (usually foll by: to) to respond or react (to a stimulus, command, etc): the steering answers to the slightest touch. 9. (tr) to pay off (a debt, obligation, etc); discharge10. (when intr, often foll by : for) to meet the requirements (of); be satisfactory (for); serve the purpose (of): this will answer his needs; this will answer for a chisel. 11. (when intr, often foll by : to) to match or correspond (esp in the phrase answer (or answer to) the description)12. (tr) to give a defence or refutation of (a charge) or in (an argument)[Old English andswaru an answer; related to Old Frisian ondser, Old Norse andsvar; see swear]Collins English Dictionary ? Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014an?swer (?æn s?r, ??n-) n. 1. a spoken or written reply or response to a question, request, letter, etc. 2. a correct response to a question. 3. an equivalent or approximation; counterpart: the French answer to the Beatles. 4. an action serving as a reply or response: The answer was a volley of fire. 5. a solution to a problem, esp. in mathematics. 6. a reply to a charge or accusation. 7. the defendant’s reply to the plaintiff’s charge. v.i. 8. to speak or write in response; make answer; reply. 9. to respond by an act or motion: He answered with a right to the jaw. 10. to act or suffer in consequence (usu. fol. by for). 11. to be or declare oneself responsible or accountable (usu. fol. by for): I will answer for his safety. 12. to be satisfactory or serve (usu. fol. by for). 13. to conform; correspond (usu. fol. by to): She answered to the description. v.t. 14. to speak or write in response to; reply to. 15. to act or move in response to: Answer the doorbell. 16. to solve or present a solution of. 17. to serve or fulfill: This will answer the purpose. 18. to discharge (a responsibility, claim, debt, etc.). 19. to conform or correspond to: This dog answers your description. 20. to reply or respond favorably to: to answer a request. 21. to atone for; make amends for. 22. answer back, to reply impertinently. [before 900; Middle English andswerien, Old English andswerian, andswarian, derivative of andswaru an answer =and- opposite, facing (compare and, along) + Germanic *swar?, derivative of swear] an?swer?er, n. an?swer?less, adj. syn: answer, reply, response, rejoinder, retort all refer to words used to meet a question, proposal, charge, etc. An answer is something said or written in return: an answer giving the desired information. A reply is usu. somewhat more formal or detailed: a courteous reply to a letter. A response is often a reaction to an appeal, suggestion, etc.: an enthusiastic response to a plea for cooperation. A rejoinder is a quick, usu. clever answer to another person’s reply or comment: a rejoinder that silenced the opposition. A retort is a keen, prompt answer, usu. to a charge or criticism: The false accusation provoked a sharp retort. Random House Kernerman Webster’s College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.answer1. used as a verbWhen you answer someone who has asked you a question, you say something back to them. You can either say that someone answers a person or that they answer a question.Be Careful!You don’t ‘answer to’ someone who has asked you a question, or ‘answer to’ their question.An answer is something that you say to someone when they have asked you a question.An answer to a problem is a possible solution to it.Be Careful!Don’t talk about an ‘answer for’ a problem.