answerback

[ an-ser-bak, ahn- ]

noun
  1. a reply or answering message from a computer or other electronic device, as by means of teletypewriter or simulated voice.

adjective
  1. of, constituting, or providing an answerback: a computer with answerback capability.

Origin of answerback

1
First recorded in 1880–85; noun use of verb phrase answer back (first used in telegraphy)

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use answerback in a sentence

  • She and Jack had many differences of opinion, but to-night Jack was tired and her cousin decided not to answer back.

    The Ranch Girls at Rainbow Lodge | Margaret Vandercook

British Dictionary definitions for answer back

answer back

verb
  1. (adverb) to reply rudely to (a person, esp someone in authority) when one is expected to remain silent

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Idioms and Phrases with answerback

answerback

see talk back.

The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.