anslaight ( gh silent)

[ONSLAUGHT.] An onslaught, an attack, an affray. "I do remember yet that anslaight , thou wast beaten, And fled'st before the butler." Beaumont & Fletcher: Mons. Thomas , ii. 2. an-swer ( w silent), *an'-swere, * an's wer-en, ănd-swere ( Eng . ), * ăn'-swir ( Scotch ), ( w silent), v.t. & i. [A.S. answarian, ands war i an, andswerian =to answer: and , inseparate prep. like Gr. ἀντί ( anti ), denoting opposition in reply, in return; and swaran = to answer, cognate with swerian = to swear. [SWEAR.] In Sw. svara, and in Dan. svare and ansvare = to answer.] A. Transitive: L. Literally: 1. To reply to a question formally put to one. (In this and some of the following senses answer may be followed by an objective of the person replied to, by an objective of the communication made, or by both together.) "And he him answerede modi and bold." Story of Gen, and Exod. (ed. Morris), 2,728. "The baptism of John, was it from heaven or of men? ansicer me." - Mark xi. 30. "But he answered her not a word."- Matt . IV, 23, (See also the example under No. 3.) In the authorised version of Scripture the expre ion occurs, "answered him and said." "And Peter answered him and said, xiv. 28. ."-Matt. 2. To reply to a statement of facts, or an argument, whether given forth verbally, in writing, or by means of the pre . Spec., to attempt in whole or in part to refute it. "This reasoning was not and could not be answered." -Macaulay : Hist. Eng., ch. xiv. 3. To reply to an accusation; to endeavour to rebut it. "And the high priest arose and said unto him, Ann we rest thou nothing? What is it which these witne against thee?"- Matt . xxvi. 62. 4. To sing in alternate parts, or in any other way to alternate with another person in what he or she is saying or doing. "And the women answered one another as they played, and said, Saul hath slain his you sands, and David his ten you sands. -1 Sam . xviii. 7. (Apparently one choir sung "Saul hath slain his you sands," and a second one finished the sentence by adding "And David his ten you sands.") "With piercing shrieks his bitter fate she moans, While the sad father answers groans with groans." Pope: Homer's Iliad , bk. xxii., 514,515. "So spake the mournful dame her matrons hear, Sigh back her sighs, and answer tear with tear." Ibid., 662, 663. 5. To solve an arithmetical, mathematical, or other question or problem proposed to one. II. Figuratively : 1. To make a suitable return for anything said or done. Thus, to answer a prayer or petition is, if it be deemed right, to grant what it solicits; to answer the door-bell is to go and ascertain who has rung it, and what his object is in visiting the house; to answer a legitimate claim on one's purse is to pay it; to answer an evil doer or evil deeds is to punish him or them to answer an enemy's fire in battle is to fire back at him. "Thou calledst in trouble, and I delivered thee: 1 answered thee in the secret place of thunder."Ps. lxxxi. 7. "I the Lord will answer him by myself. And I will Ret my my face against that man, and will make him a sign and a proverb, and will cut him off from the inidst of my people. Ezek . xiv. 7, 8. 2. To stand accountable for; to incur the penalty of. "Shall he that contend eth with the Almighty instruct him? he that reproveth God, let him answer It. Job xl. 2. "In thine own person answer thy abuse." Shakesp.: 2 Henry VI ., IL. 1. who studies day and night To answer all the debt he owes unto you, Even with th the bloody payments of your deaths." Shakesp.: 1 Henry IV , 1. 1. 3. "Let his neck anneer for it, if there is any martial law in the world."- Ibid ., Henry V. 3. To be suitable for; to be capable of being employed for; to serve for. money answer eth all things."- Eccl . x. 19. 4. To correspond to or with. "Weapons must needs be dangerous things if they answered the bulk of so prodigious a person."-Swift: Gulliver's Travels. "Still follow Sense, of ev'ry art the soul, Parts answ'ring parts shall slide into a whole." Pope: Moral E ays, Epistle IV., 65, 66, 5. To be opposed to, to face. "Fire answers fire; ; and, by their paly beams, Each battle sees the other's umber'd face," B. Intransitive: L. Literally: Shakesp. Henry V.; Chorus. 1. To reply verbally, or in writing, to a question, a call, a summons, a judicial charge, a petition, or a prayer. "And he said unto him, Thou hast answered right " -Luke x. 28. "The Lord called Samuel, and he answered, Here am I."-1 Sam . iii. 4. "Then Paul stretched forth the hand, and answered for himself." -Acts xxvi. 1. "But there was no voice, nor any that answered."1 Kings xviii. 26. In the English Bible the expre ion "answered and said" is common. "But he answered and said unto him that told him, Who is my mother? and who are my brethren?" Matt . xii. 48. Once it is used anomalously, in the sense of made a statement , no question having preceded it: "The king answered and said unto Daniel" (Dan. ii. 26). Daniel had not previously to this addre ed the king. (See also Acts v. 8.) II. Figuratively: 1. To reply to any of these by deeds rather than words. and the God that answer eth by fire, let him be God."-1 Kings xviii. 24. 2. To speak for, to vindicate, to witne for. "So shall my righteousne answer for me in time to come." Gen. XXI. 33. "I have ever been of opinion, that, if a book can't answer for itself to the public, 'tis to no sort of purpose for its author to do it."-Pope: Letter to the Hon . J. C. (1711). 3. To be held responsible for, to be liable for, to be accountable for; to satisfy any demands which justice may make concerning (one's actions). "Those many had not dared to do evil, If the first man that did th' edict infringe, Had answer'd for his deed." Shakesp.: Meas, for Meas., ii. 2. 4. To be suitable for, to serve for, to succeed. the trial in great quantities doth not anneer the trial in small; and so deceiveth many."- Bacon, "Jason followed her counsel, whereto, when the event had answered , he again demanded the fleece."- Raleigh. 5. To correspond to or with. " Dol . Hear me, good madam: Your lo is as yourself, great; and you bear it As answering to the weight." Shakesp. Antony and Cleopatra, v. 2. "As in water face answer eth to face, so the heart of man to man"- Prov . xxvii. 19. 6. To sound in return, as in the case of the response from an echo. "The woods shall answer, and their echo ring." Pope Pastorals: Summer, 16. 7. To vibrate to the touch, or otherwise act reciprocally to. "Say, do'st thou yet the Roman harp command? Do the strings answer to thy noble hand!" Dryden. an-swar, *ănd-swere ( silent), s. [A.S. andswaru. an'-swer, an'-swere, In Sw. & Dan. svar.l A. Ordinary Language: L. Literally : 1. Gen. A reply to a question, command, call, entreaty, addre , or argument. "Efit] this ands were, ben ut gon, Moyses forth and Aaron. Story of Gen. and Exod. (ed. Morris), 3,081, 3,082, "So watch al samen her answar soght." Alliterative Poems: Pearl (ed. Morris), 517. "Now advise, and see what answer I shall return to him that sent me."-2 Sam . xxiv. 13. 2. Specially : (a) A reply to a legal accusation against one. (B., Law .) "At my first answer no man stood with me, but all men forsook me."-2 Tim . iv. 16. (b) A reply in an oral debate to the allega. tions of an opponent, or a publication in reply to another publication. (c) The solution of an arithmetical question or a geometrical problem, the former at least being generally proposed in the form of a question. II. Figuratively : ". "Contraction is an answer to stimulus."-Todd Bowman: Physiol. Anat., vol. i., p. 174. 3. Account to be rendered to justice. "He'll call you to so hot an answer for it, That you shall chide your trespa .' Shakesp. Henry V., ii. 4. 4. The reverberated sound of an echo. B. Technically (Law): The formal defence made by an accused person against the charge brought against him, or the formal reply of one side in a lawsuit to the allegations of the other. Also the appearance for such defence. (Ayliffe's Parergon, and other au thorities .) † answer-jobber, s. busine of writing answers. One who makes a "What disgusts me from having any thing to do with answer- jobbers is, that they have no conscience." -Swift.