Adjacent Words

Answering definitions

	Tweet

Webster's 1828 Dictionary

'ANSWERING, ppr. Replying; corresponding to; fulfilling; solving; succeeding; reverberating; confuting.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

adj
1: replying; "an answering glance"; "an answering smile" [syn: answering, respondent]

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Answer An"swer, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Answered; p. pr. & vb. n. Answering.] [OE. andswerien, AS. andswerian, andswarian, to answer, fr. andswaru, n., answer. See Answer, n.] 1. To speak in defense against; to reply to in defense; as, to answer a charge; to answer an accusation. 2. To speak or write in return to, as in return to a call or question, or to a speech, declaration, argument, or the like; to reply to (a question, remark, etc.); to respond to. She answers him as if she knew his mind. --Shak. So spake the apostate angel, though in pain: . . . And him thus answered soon his bold compeer. --Milton. 3. To respond to satisfactorily; to meet successfully by way of explanation, argument, or justification, and the like; to refute. No man was able to answer him a word. --Matt. xxii. 46. These shifts refuted, answer thine appellant. --Milton. The reasoning was not and could not be answered. --Macaulay. 4. To be or act in return or response to. Hence: (a) To be or act in compliance with, in fulfillment or satisfaction of, as an order, obligation, demand; as, he answered my claim upon him; the servant answered the bell. This proud king . . . studies day and night To answer all the debts he owes unto you. --Shak. (b) To render account to or for. I will . . . send him to answer thee. --Shak. (c) To atone; to be punished for. And grievously hath C[ae]zar answered it. --Shak. (d) To be opposite to; to face. The windows answering each other, we could just discern the glowing horizon them. --Gilpin. (e) To be or act an equivalent to, or as adequate or sufficient for; to serve for; to repay. [R.] Money answereth all things. --Eccles. x. 19. (f) To be or act in accommodation, conformity, relation, or proportion to; to correspond to; to suit. Weapons must needs be dangerous things, if they answered the bulk of so prodigious a person. --Swift.