Law. a pleading in which a party responds to his or her opponent's statement of position, especially the defendant's reply to the plaintiff's complaint.
8.
Music. the entrance of a fugue subject, usually on the dominant, either slightly altered or transposed exactly after each presentation in the tonic.
answer back, to reply impertinently or rudely: Well-behaved children do not answer back when scolded.
Idiom
24.
answer the helm, Nautical. (of a vessel) to maneuver or remain steady according to the position of the rudder.
Origin: before 900; Middle English andswerien,Old English andswerian, andswarian derivative of andswaru an answer, equivalent to and- opposite, facing (compare and, along) + Germanic *swarō, derivative of swear
Related forms
an·swer·er, noun
an·swer·less, adjective
un·an·swered, adjective
un·an·swer·ing, adjective
well-an·swered, adjective
Synonyms 1. riposte. Answer,rejoinder,reply,response,retort all mean words used to meet a question, remark, charge, etc. An answer is a return remark: an answer giving the desired information. A rejoinder is a quick, usually clever answer or remark made in reply to another's comment, not to a question. Reply usually refers to a direct or point-by-point response to a suggestion, proposal, question, or the like: a reply to a letter. A response often suggests an answer to an appeal, exhortation, etc., or an expected or fixed reply: a response to inquiry; a response in a church service. A retort implies a keen, prompt answer, especially one that turns a remark upon the person who made it: a sharp retort. 6. defense, plea.