responds

1. 1
   verb

   Third-person singular simple present of respond.

   The immune system responds to foreign antigens by producing antibodies.

   Whenever prices rise, demand responds with a gradual decline.

   Note

   Mostly a verb of reaction, built with to for what prompts it and with for what comes back: the immune system responds to antigens, demand responds with a decline. It can also mean simply replying to someone. Rarer uses carry on in this form too. Something that responds to a need satisfies it, and a party who responds may be the one liable for payment.

2. 2
   noun

   Plural of respond.

   The cathedral's responds rise on either side of the nave arcade.

   Restorers cleaned the carved responds along the chancel wall.

   Note

   A plural that comes into its own inside churches, where respond has two concrete meanings. In architecture, responds are half-pillars or pilasters set into a wall to receive the impost of an arch. In liturgy, they are versicles or short anthems chanted at intervals during a reading. The same spelling is also the everyday verb form, so context decides: the responds of a nave are stonework.

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