answer

Less common meanings

6. 6
   be accountableverbintransitive

   To be held responsible for something, especially a wrong, and to account for it or suffer the consequences.

   One day they must answer for the harm they caused.

   The manager answered for the team's poor decisions.

   UsageYou answer to a person for a thing; have a lot to answer for means you deserve much of the blame.

   Similarpay

   Note

   In Shakespeare's Henry V Fluellen demands that a man's neck answer for it, a penalty to be paid in person, close to the old sense of making amends. Source

   Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 1 fact

   • Answer has an established sense of making amends. en.wiktionary.org
7. 7
   counterpartnouncountable

   A person or thing that fills a role similar to a better-known counterpart elsewhere.

   With its giant neon signs and late-night crowds, the old market district is often called the city's answer to Times Square.

   Critics dubbed the show the network's answer to its rival's hit drama.

   UsageUsually someone's answer to a famous original: the city's answer to Times Square; it suggests imitation or rivalry.

   Similarequivalent, counterpart

8. 8
   defend oneselfverbtransitive

   To reply to a charge, accusation, or argument, defending oneself or showing that it is wrong.

   The minister rose to answer the charges leveled by the opposition.

   Defendants have the right to answer every allegation brought before the court.

   UsageTypical objects: answer the charges, answer an allegation, answer an argument.

   Similarrebut, counter, refute

   Note

   The verb's oldest job survives here: Old English andswarian could mean to deny an allegation under oath. It can claim only the act of replying in self-defense, or go further and claim success: to answer a charge is to defend yourself, while to answer an argument can be to defeat it. Source

   Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 1 fact

   • Old English andswarian could mean to deny an allegation under oath. en.wiktionary.org
9. 9
   good enoughverbtransitive or intransitive

   To serve a need or purpose well enough; to be sufficient or do as a substitute.

   A sturdy box will answer just as well as a proper crate.

   The makeshift shelter answered their needs during the storm.

   UsageIts usual objects are need and purpose: answer the purpose; it can also stand alone, as in that will answer.

   Similarserve, suffice, do

   Note

   Good enough is the whole point: what answers serves the purpose without any claim to excellence. The use runs through nineteenth-century prose, from Jane Austen's Emma to Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu's Uncle Silas. It often stands with no object at all, as when Alexander J. Ellis wrote in 1871 that his palaeotype "would not answer" for a newspaper. Source

   Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 5 facts

   • Jane Austen's Emma contains this sense of answer. gutenberg.org
   • Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu's Uncle Silas contains this sense of answer. gutenberg.org
   • Both named novels were published in the nineteenth century. en.wiktionary.org
   • The Ellis passage appears in Part III of On Early English Pronunciation, published in 1871. en.wikipedia.org
   • Ellis wrote that his palaeotype would not answer for newspaper publication, using answer without an object. en.wiktionary.org
10. 10
    matchverbintransitive

    To correspond to or match something; to conform or be suitable, usually with 'to'.

    Police found an abandoned van answering to the description several witnesses had given.

    The cottage she finally found seemed to answer in every detail to the one in her grandmother's stories.

    UsageMost often with to, as in answering to the description of a suspect.

    Similarcorrespond, conform

    Note

    The King James Bible of 1611 supplies a fitting image for it, "as in water face answereth to face," which treats correspondence as reflection. Jonathan Swift writes of weapons that "answered the Bulk of so prodigious a Person," taking the object directly. Source

    Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 3 facts

    • The King James Bible was first published in 1611. wwwe.lib.cam.ac.uk
    • Proverbs 27:19 contains the quoted words and uses the image of a face reflected in water. en.wikisource.org
    • Jonathan Swift wrote the quoted wording about weapons, with answered taking a direct object. gutenberg.org
11. 11
    verbintransitive

    To show recognition when addressed by a certain name, or to be known by that name; used with to.

    A well-trained sheepdog will answer to its name from across the field.

    The man renting the cabin answers to the name of Jack, though nobody knows if it is his real one.

    UsageAnswer to a name, often of animals: answers to Rex; answers to the name of can hint the name is not real.

    Similarrespond

12. 12
    noun

    A court document filed in response to a complaint, addressing each point raised and presenting counterarguments.
13. 13
    verb

    To respond in writing to a complaint filed in court by submitting the required legal document.
14. 14
    verb

    To be opposite to, or to act in opposition against, another.