answer (anser)

[Early mod. E. also an sweare, answer f., answer, = Icel. andsvar, annsvar, neut., answer, response, decision, = Sw. Dan. ansvar, responsibility, formerly answer), reply': see and-, an -2, v.] 1. A reply, response, or rejoinder, spoken or writte written, to a question (expre ed or implied), e ed or implied), request, appeal, prayer, call, petition, demand, challenge, objection, argument, addre , letter, or to anything said or written. A soft answer turneth away wrath. Prov. xv. 1. I called him, but he gave me no answer. Cant. v. 6. Bacon returned a shuffling answer to the Earl's question. Macaulay, Lord Bacon. In particular-( a ) A reply to a charge or an accusation; a statement made in defense or justification of one's self, with regard to a charge or an accusation; a defense; specifically, in law, a pleading on the part of the defendant, responding to the plaintiff's claim on questions of fact: correlative to demurrer, which raises only questions of law. The word as used in equity nearly, and as used in recent codes of procedure closely, corresponds to the common law plea. (b) The solution of a problem; the result of a mathematical operation; a statement made in response to a question set for examination: implying correctne , unle qualified. 2. A reply or response in act; an actor motion in return or in consequence, either as a mere result due to obedience, consent, or sympathy, or as a hostile procedure in retaliation or reprisal. If your father's highne Do not Sweeten the bitter mock you sent his majesty, He'll call you to so hot an answer of it, That caves and womby vaultages of France Shall chide your trespa , and return your mock In second accent of his ordnance. Shak., Hen. V., ii. 4. And so extort from us that Which we have done, whose answer would be death Drawn on with torture. Shak ., Cymbeline, iv. 4. Specifically-(a) In fencing , the return hit. I had a pa with him, rapier, scabbard, and all, and on the answer , he pays you as surely as your feet hit the ground. Shak ., T. N., iii. 4. (b) In fugue - music, the enunciation of the subject or theme by the second voice. Often abbreviated to ans . and a . =Syn. Reply, rejoinder, replication, response, retort, defense. IMG:content-0814.png:[blocks in formation] 4. To act or suffer in consequence of responsibility; meet the consequences: with for, rarely absolutely. Let his neck answer for it, if there is any martial law. Shak., Hen. V., iv. 8. Every faculty which is a receiver of pleasure has an equal penalty put on its abuse. It is to answer for its moderation with its life. Emerson , Compensation. 5. To meet, satisfy, or fulfil one's wishes, expectations, or requirements; be of service: with for; absolutely, to serve the purpose; attain the end; suit; serve or do (well or ill, etc.). Long metre answers for a common song, But common metre does not answer long. O. W. Holmes, A Modest Request. ant