re⋅spond
[ri-spond]
| 1. | to reply or answer in words: to respond briefly to a question. |
| 2. | to make a return by some action as if in answer: to respond generously to a charity drive. |
| 3. | to react favorably. |
| 4. | Physiology. to exhibit some action or effect as if in answer; react: Nerves respond to a stimulus. |
| 5. | to correspond (usually fol. by to). |
| 6. | Bridge. to make a response. |
| 7. | to say in answer; reply. |
| 8. | Architecture. a half pier, pilaster, or the like projecting from a wall as a support for a lintel or an arch, the other side of which is supported on a free-standing pier or column. |
| 9. | Ecclesiastical.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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re·spond (rĭ-spŏnd') v. re·spond·ed, re·spond·ing, re·sponds v. intr.
To give as a reply; answer. n. Architecture A pilaster or half-pier engaged to a wall and carrying one end of an arch or groin, often at the end of an arcade. [Middle English responden, from Old French respondre, from Latin respondēre : re-, re- + spondēre, to promise; see spend- in Indo-European roots.] re·spond'er n. |
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Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Respond
Re*spond"\ (r?*sp?nd"), v. i. [imp. & p. p. Responded; p. pr. & vb. n. Responding.] [OF. respondre, F. r['e]pondre, fr. L. respondere, responsum; pref. re- re- + spondere to promise. See Sponsor.]1. To say somethin in return; to answer; to reply; as, to respond to a question or an argument. 2. To show some effect in return to a force; to act in response; to accord; to correspond; to suit. A new affliction strings a new cord in the heart, which responds to some new note of complaint within the wide scale of human woe. --Buckminster. To every theme responds thy various lay. --Broome. 3. To render satisfaction; to be answerable; as, the defendant is held to respond in damages. [U.S.] Syn: To answer; reply; rejoin. See Reply.Respond
Re*spond"\, v. t. 1. To answer; to reply. 2. To suit or accord with; to correspond to. [R.] For his great deeds respond his speeches great. --Fairfax.Respond
Re*spond"\, n. 1. An answer; a response. [R.] 2. (Eccl.) A short anthem sung at intervals during the reading of a chapter. 3. (Arch.) A half pier or pillar attached to a wall to support an arch. --Oxf. Gloss.Cite This Source
respond
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Main Entry: re·spond
Pronunciation: ri-'spänd
Function: intransitive verb
1 : to react in response
2 : to showfavorable reaction <respond to surgery>
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respond
plainchant melody and text originally sung responsorially-i.e., by alternating choir and soloist or soloists. Responsorial singing of the psalms was adopted into early Christian worship from Jewish liturgical practice. Most frequently the congregation sang a short refrain, such as Amen or Alleluia, between psalm verses sung by a cantor. As medieval plainchant developed, more elaborate refrains (R) were sung by a choir alternating with soloists singing psalm verses (V), producing a musical form R V1 R V2R. The responsory, or refrain, was frequently abbreviated on its repetition. Its text usually related to the meaning of the feast day or the content of the psalm. Only a few such chants survive in this long form, which is now normally curtailed.
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