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Reply - 9 dictionary results

re⋅ply

  [ri-plahy] verb, -plied, -ply⋅ing, noun, plural -plies.
Use Reply in a Sentence
–verb (used without object)
1. to make answer in words or writing; answer; respond: to reply to a question.
2. to respond by some action, performance, etc.: to reply to the enemy's fire.
3. to return a sound; echo; resound.
4. Law. to answer a defendant's plea.
–verb (used with object)
5. to return as an answer (usually used in a negative combination or fol. by a clause with that): Not a syllable did he reply. He replied that no one would go.
–noun
6. an answer or response in words or writing.
7. a response made by some action, performance, etc.
Origin:
1350–1400; ME replien (v.) < MF replier to fold back, reply < L replicāre to unroll, fold back; see replicate

Related forms:
re⋅pli⋅er, noun

Synonyms:
1. rejoin. 6. rejoinder, riposte. See answer.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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re·ply   (rĭ-plī')   
v.   re·plied, re·ply·ing, re·plies

v.   intr.
  1. To give an answer in speech or writing.
  2. To respond by an action or gesture.
  3. To echo.
  4. To return gunfire or an attack: The big guns replied.
  5. Law To respond to a defendant's plea.
v.   tr.
To say or give as an answer: I replied that I was unable to help them. See Synonyms at answer.
n.   pl. re·plies
  1. A response in speech or writing.
  2. A response by an action or gesture.
  3. Law A plaintiff's formal response in answer to that of a defendant.

[Middle English replien, from Old French replier, from Latin replicāre, to fold back; see replicate.]
re·pli'er n.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Reply

Re*ply"\ (r?-pl?"), v. i. [imp. & p. p. Replied (-pl?d"); p. pr. & vb. n. Replying.] [OE. replien, OF. replier, F. r['e]pliquer, fr. L. replicare to fold back, make a reply; pref. re- re- + plicare to fold. See Ply, and cf. Replica.]

1. To make a return in words or writing; to respond; to answer.

O man, who art thou that repliest against God? --Rom. ix. 20.

2. (Law) To answer a defendant's plea.

3. Figuratively, to do something in return for something done; as, to reply to a signal; to reply to the fire of a battery.

Syn: To answer; respond; rejoin.

Reply

Re*ply"\, v. t. To return for an answer. --Milton.

Lords, vouchsafe To give me hearing what I shall reply. --Shak.

Reply

Re*ply"\, n.; pl. Replies (-pl?z"). [See Reply, v. i., and cf. Replica.] That which is said, written, or done in answer to what is said, written, or done by another; an answer; a response.

Syn: Answer; rejoinder; response.

Usage: Reply, Rejoinder, Answer. A reply is a distinct response to a formal question or attack in speech or writing. A rejoinder is a second reply (a reply to a reply) in a protracted discussion or controversy. The word answer is used in two senses, namely (1), in the most general sense of a mere response; as, the answer to a question; or (2), in the sense of a decisive and satisfactory confutation of an adversary's argument, as when we speak of a triumphant answer to the speech or accusations of an opponent. Here the noun corresponds to a frequent use of the verb, as when we say. "This will answer (i.e., fully meet) the end in view;" "It answers the purpose."
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Language Translation for : Reply
Spanish: responder,
German: erwiedern,
Japanese: 答える
More Translations »

reply

n. See followup.
Jargon File 4.2.0
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reply 
c.1385, from O.Fr. replier "to reply, turn back," from L. replicare "to reply, repeat," lit. "fold back," from re- "back, again" + plicare "to fold" (see ply). The noun is first recorded 1560. Mod.Fr. répliquer is directly from L.L.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Main Entry: re·ply
Function: noun
: a plaintiff's or complainant's response to a plea, allegation, or counterclaim in the defendant's answer
Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of Law, © 1996 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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reply
followup

The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing, © 1993-2007 Denis Howe
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