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Definition: Answer |
AnswerNoun1. A statement (either spoken or written) that is made in reply to a question or request or criticism or accusation; "I waited several days for his answer"; "he wrote replies to several of his critics". 2. A statement that solves a problem or explains how to solve the problem; "they were trying to find a peaceful solution"; "the answers were in the back of the book"; "he computed the result to four decimal places". 3. The speech act of replying to a question. 4. The principle pleading by the defendant in response to plaintiff's complaint; in criminal law it consists of the defendant's plea of `guilty' or `not guilty' (or nolo contendere); in civil law it must contain denials of all allegations in the plaintiff's complaint that the defendant hopes to controvert and it can contain affirmative defenses or counterclaims. 5. A nonverbal reaction; "his answer to any problem was to get drunk"; "their answer was to sue me". Verb1. Reply or respond to; "She didn't want to answer"; "answer the question"; "We answered that we would accept the invitation". 2. Give the correct answer or solution to; "answer a question" "answer the riddle". 3. Respond to a signal; "answer the door," "answer the telephone". 4. Understand the meaning of; "The question concerning the meaning of life cannot be answered". 5. Give a defence or refutation of (a charge) or in (an argument); "The defendant answered to all the charges of the prosecution". 6. Be liable or accountable; "She must answer for her actions". 7. Be sufficient; be adequate, either in quality or quantity; "A few words would answer"; "This car suits my purpose well"; "Will $100 do?"; "A "B" grade doesn't suffice to get me into medical school"; "Nothing else will serve". 8. Match or correspond; "The drawing of the suspect answers to the description the victim gave". 9. Be satisfactory for; meet the requirements of or serve the purpose of; "This may answer her needs". 10. : react to a stimulus or command; "The steering of my new car answers to the slightest touch". Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. |
Date "answer" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1010. (references) |
| Domain | Definition |
Law | The formal written statement by a defendant responding to a civil complaint and setting forth the grounds for defense. (references) |
Literature | Answer is the Old English and-swaru, verb and swar-ian or swerian, where And is the preposition = the Latin re in re-spond-eo. (See Swear.) To answer like a Norman, that is, evasively. "We say, in France. "Answering like a Norman," which means to give an evasive answer, neither yes nor no." - Max O'Rell; Friend M"Donald, ch. v. To answer its purpose, to carry out what was expected or what was intended. Celsus says, "Medicina sæpius respondet, interdum tamen fallit." To answer the bell is to go and see what it was rung for. To answer the door is to go and open it when a knock or ring has been given. In both the last two instances the word is "answering to a summons." To swear means literally "to affirm something," and to an-swear is to "say something" by way of rejoinder; but figuratively both the "swer" and the "answer" may be made without words. "... My story being done, ... She [Desdemona ] swore [affirmed ] 'twas strange,... 'Twas pitiful, 'twas wondrous pitiful." Shakespeare: Othello, i. 3. Source: Brewer's Dictionary. |
Tips from 1870 | Usage: Answer, Reply. An answer implies a question. We may reply to a remark or assertion. A reply is more formal than an answer. Source: Slips of Speech. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
ANSWER (Act Now to Stop War and End Racism) is a protest organization established by the International Action Center, which was founded by former United States attorney general Ramsey Clark.Among the many groups which has supported ANSWER is the Workers' World Party, a small radical Trotskyist group. Some US conservatives and supporters of the George W. Bush administration have made much of this tie, and accused the entire anti-war movement of being Trotskyists and Trotskyist dupes. Anti-war activists excused these ties by claiming that the movement against the Iraq war in its early stages needed all the help that it could get, and that most participants in demonstrations in which ANSWER participated in organizing rejected the views of the WWP.
Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "ANSWER."
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
In general in communication an answer is a response. E.g., an answer is the response to a question, hopefully to satisify the questioner. The answer to the great question is also known as the theory of everything. It can also be a response to a telephone, letter, front door, etc.Also, in the common law, an Answer is the first pleading by a defendant, usually filed and served upon the plaintiff within a certain strict time limit after a civil complaint or criminal information or indictment has been served upon the defendant.
The Answer establishes which allegations (cause of action in civil matters) set forth by the complaining party will be contested by the defendant, and states all the defendant's defenses, thus establishing the nature and parameters of the controversy to be decided by the court.
In the case of a criminal case there is usually an arraignment or some other kind of appearance between the court by the defendant. The pleading in the criminal case, which is entered on the record in open court, is either guilty or not guilty. Generally speaking in private, civil cases there is no guilt or innocence. There is only a judgment that grants money damages or some other kind of equitable remedy such as restitution or an injunction. Criminal cases may lead to fines or other punishment, such as imprisonment.
Someone to whom you are answerable is one who looks after you, or someone who gives you rules which you must comply with.
Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Answer."
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
Warning: Wikipedia contains spoilers.
The answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe and Everything, as given by the supercomputer Deep Thought to a group of mice in Douglas Adams's comic science fiction series The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, is "42". According to the Guide, mice are 3-dimensional profiles of a pan-dimensional, hyper-intelligent race of beings. They built Deep Thought, the second greatest computer of all time and space, to tell them the answer to the question of life, the universe and everything. After seven and a half million years the computer divulges the answer: 42.
The computer informs the researchers that it will build them a second and greater computer, incorporating living beings as part of its computational matrix, to tell them what the question is. That computer was called Earth and was so big that it was often mistaken for a planet. The question was lost minutes before it was to be outputted, due to the Vogons' demolition of the Earth, supposedly to build a hyperspace bypass. (Later in the series, it is revealed that the Vogons had been hired to destroy the Earth by a consortium of philosophers and psychiatrists who feared for their jobs should the meaning of life become common knowledge.)
- "Forty-two!" yelled Loonquawl. "Is that all you've got to show for seven and a half million years' work?"
- "I checked it very thoroughly," said the computer, "and that quite definitely is the answer. I think the problem, to be quite honest with you, is that you've never actually known what the question is."
Already booked for a round of talk-show appearances to reveal the Question, the mice become desperate to discover it. During a meeting with Arthur Dent and his companions on the planet Magrathea, Frankie and Benjy mouse reveal a plan to extract the ultimate question from Arthur's brain. Since this involves removing and dicing his brain, Arthur is unwilling to go along with the plan. He manages to escape from them unscathed.
Lacking a real answer, the mice proposed to use "How many roads must a man walk down?" as the question for talk-shows (having rejected the question, "What's yellow and dangerous?" - actually a riddle whose answer, not given by Adams, is "Shark-infested custard").
At the end of the book The Restaurant at the End of the Universe (volume 2 of the Hitchhiker's trilogy), Arthur Dent (as the last human to have left the Earth before its destruction, and therefore the portion of the computer matrix most likely to hold the question) attempts to discover the Question by extracting it from his unconscious mind, through pulling Scrabble letters at random out of a sack. The result is the sentence "WHAT DO YOU GET IF YOU MULTIPLY SIX BY NINE".
Since 6 x 9 = 54, this being the question would imply that the universe is bizarre and irrational; on the other hand, there is no proof that this was the actual question. After all, Arthur Dent comprised only a minuscule fragment of the vast and complex computer matrix that was the Earth, and besides, it was stated that the computer's run had not finished when it was destroyed. In addition, Arthur and Ford realized that the original ape-like inhabitants of Earth were displaced by the Golgafrinchanss, which could account for the irrational nature of the question in Arthur's mind (as he himself is a descendant of the Golgafrinchans).
- "Six by nine. Forty-two."
- "That's it. That's all there is."
However, it was later pointed out that 6 x 9 = 42 if the calculations are performed in base 13, not base 10. Douglas Adams was not aware of this at the time, and has denied that base 13 has anything to do with it.
In the original radio series, this scene occurs at the end of the first series (Fit the Sixth). On discovering the question, Arthur Dent remarks "I always said there was something fundamentally wrong with the universe.".
"42" is often used in the same vein as a metasyntactic variable; 42 is often used in testing programs as a common initializer for integer variables.
Google has recently added a calculator function to its search engine, which contains a formula for the question answer to life the universe and everything.
Computer programmers' joke
There is a joke amongst computer programmers that Deep Thought may have had some order of operations issues. The following code in the programming language C defines the macros SIX as "1 + 5" and NINE as "8 + 1", and then performs the computation "SIX * NINE". It returns the answer "42", because "SIX * NINE" is expanded by the computer to "1 + 5 * 8 + 1", and the multiplication takes precedence over the additions. (A macro is not a variable.)
#includeSee also: Meaning of life#define SIX 1 + 5 #define NINE 8 + 1
int main() { printf( "The meaning of life: %d\
", SIX * NINE ); return( 0 ); }
External links
- Douglas Adams himself had also something to say on this subject; see this message.
- Google calculator's calculation of "Answer To Life The Universe And Everything".
Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "The Answer to Life, the Universe, and Everything."
| The following table is compiled from various sources, across various languages. When English abbreviations or acronyms come from a non-English source, this is noted. | |||
| Entry | Source | Expression | Field |
| ANM | English | Answer message | N/A |
Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references). | |||
Synonyms: AnswerSynonyms: resolution (n), response (n), result (n), solution (n), solvent (n), do (v), reply (v), resolve (v), respond (v), serve (v), suffice (v). (additional references) |
| Antonym: question (n). (additional references) |
| Context | Synonyms within Context (source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus). |
Acquisition | Be profitable; Adjective: pay, answer. |
Confutation | Noun: {ant } confutation, refutation; answer, complete answer; disproof, conviction, redargution, invalidation; exposure, exposition; clincher; retort; reductio ad absurdum; knock down argument, tu quoque argument; sockdolager. |
Interpretation | Noun: interpretation, definition; explanation, explication; solution, answer; rationale; plain interpretation, simple interpretation, strict interpretation; meaning. |
Lawsuit | Pleadings; declaration, bill, claim; proces verbal; bill of right, information, corpus delicti; affidavit, state of facts; answer, reply, replication, plea, demurrer, rebutter, rejoinder; surrebutter, surrejoinder. |
Utility | Verb: be useful; Adjective: avail, serve; subserve; (be instrumental to); conduce; (tend); answer, serve one's turn, answer a purpose, serve a purpose. |
| Source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus. | |
Crosswords: Answer |
| English words defined with "answer": evasive answer ♦ To con answer. (references) |
| Specialty definitions using "answer": Answer more Scotico ♦ call forwarding-don't answer ♦ question and answer session. (references) |
| Etymologies containing "answer": Volow. (references) |
| Domain | Usage | |
Screenplays | Her eyes alone told the story of her age, staring out from under her doll-like curls, with a questioning that will one day need an answer. (Interview with the Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles; writing credit: Anne Rice) No, we don't take 'no' for an answer. (Tommy Boy; writing credit: Bonnie Turner and Terry Turner.) Answer to no one. (Say Anything; writing credit: Cameron Crowe.) What are we doing here? Who are we? If this is a chance to find out even just a little part of that answer I don't know, I think it's worth a human life (Contact; writing credit: Carl Sagan;) You don't have to answer right away (While You Were Sleeping; writing credit: Daniel G. Sullivan and Fredric LeBow.) | |
Lyrics | Answer the phone, I know that you're home (Answer The Phone; performing artist: Sugar Ray) Communication is the problem to the answer (Things We Do For Love; performing artist: 10 CC) I don't know the answer to that question (The Look Of Love; performing artist: ABC) Did you look up to heaven for some kind of answer (Where Were You (When The World Stopped Turning); performing artist: Alan Jackson) And you try to be calm and answer in nice ways (If I Could Go; performing artist: Angie Martinez) | |
Clever | No answer is also an answer. (references; author: unknown) To every complex problem there is an easy answer, and it is wrong! (references; author: unknown) When fear knocks at the door and you answer, there will be no one there. (references; author: unknown) A bird does not sing because it has an answer. It sings because it has a song. (references; author: unknown) How to act insane: Ask people what sex they are. Laugh hysterically after they answer. (references; author: unknown) | |
Movie/TV Titles | Answer Yes or No (1950) Please Answer (1940) Held to Answer (1923) Old Pal Why Don't You Answer Me? (1922) The Answer (1918) | |
Song Titles | Answer the Phone (performing artist: Sugar Ray) One Less Bell to Answer (performing artist: The Fifth Dimension) | |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | ||
| Domain | Title | ||
Books |
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Periodicals |
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Theater & Movies | |||
Music |
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High Tech |
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Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |||
| Thumbnail | Description & Credit | Thumbnail | Description & Credit |
 | Shown is a black woman with sage-colored jacket, and wearing a phone headset. CIS information specialists answer questions from the public, patients and health professionals about the prevention, detection and treatment of cancer. Credit: Bill Branson (Photographer). |  | Participates in a question and answer session with U.S. Navy Advisors at the Rach Soi Naval Base, Republic of Vietnam, in May 1971. Photographed by PH1 H.P. Shiplett. Note berets worn by Admiral Zumwalt and many of the others present. Credit: NAVY. |
 | Never before have the fairest energies and aspirations of men flung so recklessly and incessantly into an abyss whence comes no sound or answer. Credit: Library of Congress. |  | For answer she gave him a long pink bill. Credit: Library of Congress. |
 | Quick, boys, the answer!. Credit: Library of Congress. |  | Hello, hello, operator, I don't seem to be getting any answer!. Credit: Library of Congress. |
 | Leningrad inhabitants, including women of all ages, under the leadership of Petrov, a munition worker, using shovels and picks to help construct anti-tank ditches in answer to the call to defend their city to the last during the Siege of Leningrad. Credit: Library of Congress. |  | Production. Submarine chasers. An answer to the U-boats: more subchasers. A husky arc welder has just finished a job on one of the chocks of a chaser at an Eastern boatyard. Marine Construction Company, Stamford, Connecticut. Credit: Library of Congress. |
 | Japanese-American volunteers. Second and larger group on Kauai, Hawaii to go up for physical examination, the Makaweli draft board registrants answer roll call outside their board prior to going up for the physical. Calling roll is Captain J.J. Fallon of. Credit: Library of Congress. |  | Join [Red Cross symbol] - America's answer to humanity's challenge / Hayden Hayden ; Snyder & Black Inc. N.Y. Credit: Library of Congress. |
Source: pictures compiled by the editor from various references; see picture credits. | |||
 |
| "Answer Sheet" by Wiennat Mongkulmann Commentary: "Answer sheet with pen." |
Source: photographs selected by the editor, with permission from the photographers. |
| Author | Quotation |
Camille Desmoulins | Burning is no answer. |
Elbert Hubbard | If you can't answer a man's argument, all is not lost; you can still call him vile names. |
Francis Bacon | "What is truth?" said jesting Pilate and would not stay for an answer. |
George Meredith | Ah, what a dusty answer gets the soul when hot for certainties in this our life! |
George Washington | To persevere in one's duty and to be silent is the best answer to calumny. |
John Brown | I will answer anything I can with honor, but not about others. |
Julius Caesar | [In answer to a question as to what sort of death was the best] A sudden death. |
Napoleon Bonaparte | Doctors will have more lives to answer for in the next world than even we generals. |
Oscar Wilde | When the gods wish to punish us they answer our prayers. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | |
| Author | Date | Quotation |
Magna Carta | 1215 | Neither we nor our bailiffs will seize any land or rent for any debt, as long as the chattels of the debtor are sufficient to repay the debt; nor shall the sureties of the debtor be distrained so long as the principal debtor is able to satisfy the debt; and if the principal debtor shall fail to pay the debt, having nothing wherewith to pay it, then the sureties shall answer for the debt; and let them have the lands and rents of the debtor, if they desire them, until they are indemnified for the debt which they have paid for him, unless the principal debtor can show proof that he is discharged thereof as against the said sureties. (reference) |
John Locke | 1690 | To which I answer, Not so. (Second Treatise of Government) |
US Bill of Rights | 1795 | Amendment V. No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation. (reference) |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
| Title | Author | Quote |
Emma | Austen, Jane | Emma could look perfectly unconscious and innocent, and answer in a manner that appropriated nothing |
Through the Looking-Glass | Carroll, Lewis | The little fishes of the sea, They sent an answer back to me. |
A Christmas Carol | Dickens, Charles | Since you ask me what I wish, gentlemen, that is my answer. |
So Long, and Thanks For All the Fish | Douglas Adams | Suddenly he realized what the answer to the problem was, and it was this, that something very weird was happening; and if something very weird was happening, he thought, he wanted it to be happening to him. |
Les Miserables | Hugo, Victor | Madeleine made no answer. |
Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man | Joyce, James | His conscience sighed in answer. |
King Richard III | Shakespeare, William | His answer was, the people were not used To be spoke to but by the Recorder |
Grapes of Wrath | Steinbeck, John | The girl looked away and did not answer. |
Gulliver's Travels | Swift, Jonathan | I had an answer in about an hour, that his Majesty, attended by the Royal Family, and great officers of the court, was coming out to receive me. |
Walden | Thoreau, Henry David | This was my answer with respect to those youths who were bent on this pursuit, trusting that they would soon outgrow it. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
| Subject | Topic | Quote |
Health | One “yes” answer suggests a possible alcohol problem. (references) | |
Avoid questions that have a simple “yes” or “no” answer. (references) | ||
This question is complex and does not have a definitive answer. (references) | ||
Business | Well, put very simply, the answer is local knowledge. (references) | |
Actris AG, is it financially competitive? There is no absolute answer to this question. (references) | ||
By mid-February, the IOCs will make presentations to the Saudi negotiators and answer preliminary questions. (references) | ||
Civil Liberties | Poland | Under the Act, aliens should receive an answer to their petition within 2 days. (references) |
Romania | The Baha'i Faith stated that it has never received any answer to its repeated requests to be registered as a religious denomination. (references) | |
Nicaragua | The media and political analysts severely criticized President Aleman for his harsh verbal attacks on local journalists when they posed questions that he did not want to answer. (references) | |
Economic History | The Bahamas | They answer politically to the House of Assembly. (references) |
Belgium | Upon request, AIS members will answer questions regarding a variety of issues either in person or via letter/fax. (references) | |
South Africa | The U.S. does not maintain an embassy in Seychelles, but a consular agent is based in Victoria to provide assistance and answer queries. (references) | |
Human Rights | United Arab Emirates | They act in accordance with traditional Islamic law and practice, but also must answer to the Federal Supreme Court. (references) |
Uruguay | There is no legal provision against self-incrimination, and judges may compel defendants to answer any question they pose. (references) | |
Yemen | The law provides detainees with the right to inform their families of their arrests and to decline to answer questions without an attorney present. (references) | |
Minorities | Romania | In March a Tirgu Mures-based NGO, Liga Pro Europa, took legal action against a local weekly that carried an interview with two persons using pseudonyms who proposed to "clean the town of Roma." The local prosecutor's office answered in a letter that no crime had been committed and refused to answer a second letter by the NGO asking for the legal grounds of that answer. (references) |
Political Economy | Kuwait | National Assembly members are free to criticize the government and often require Cabinet ministers to answer their questions in formal open sessions. (references) |
Cambodia | Security forces are nominally under the control of civilian authorities, but in practice answer to persons within the CPP. The responsiveness of local police and military commanders to civilian authorities varies by location. (references) | |
Political Rights | Congo | The CNT debates issues freely and summons cabinet ministers to answer questions about their portfolios; however, it was dominated by supporters of the President and did not serve as a meaningful check on executive authority. (references) |
Trade | China | The office is able to answer questions about Chinese quarantine laws and is the equivalent of AQSIQ. (references) |
Japan | If an inquiry is too specific for the Association to answer, it will refer the inquiry to the appropriate Japanese industry organization for a response. (references) | |
Travel | Indonesia | Physicians in the United States should be able to answer questions pertaining to immunizations and other health concerns. (references) |
Armenia | This, combined with old Soviet working habits, means that many Armenian firms answer only correspondence that is of vital interest to them. (references) | |
Vietnam | Even if the principal host is not heavily involved in the details of the conversation, guests should remember to address include the principal in the conversation allowing him or her to delegate authority to answer. (references) | |
Lexicography | Devil's Dictionary | ABRACADABRA. By Abracadabra we signify An infinite number of things. 'Tis the answer to What? and How? and Why? And Whence? and Whither? -- a word whereby The Truth (with the comfort it brings) Is open to all who grope in night, Crying for Wisdom's holy light. Whether the word is a verb or a noun Is knowledge beyond my reach. I only know that 'tis handed down. From sage to sage, From age to age -- An immortal part of speech! Of an ancient man the tale is told That he lived to be ten centuries old, In a cave on a mountain side. (True, he finally died.) The fame of his wisdom filled the land, For his head was bald, and you'll understand His beard was long and white And his eyes uncommonly bright. Philosophers gathered from far and near To sit at his feat and hear and hear, Though he never was heard To utter a word But "Abracadabra, abracadab, Abracada, abracad, Abraca, abrac, abra, ab!" 'Twas all he had, 'Twas all they wanted to hear, and each Made copious notes of the mystical speech, Which they published next -- A trickle of text In the meadow of commentary. Mighty big books were these, In a number, as leaves of trees; In learning, remarkably -- very! He's dead, As I said, And the books of the sages have perished, But his wisdom is sacredly cherished. In Abracadabra it solemnly rings, Like an ancient bell that forever swings. O, I love to hear That word make clear Humanity's General Sense of Things. Jamrach Holobom |
Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits. | ||
| Speaker | Phrase(s) |
Ann Richards | Very good. The answer is that I am so proud of all those women in the Senate, I don't know what to do. |
Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres | I'm not sure. Maybe a change in Iraq can facilitate a better solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. It's not so clear that there is a simple answer. |
Jermaine Jackson | See my whole reason for being here is to sort of set the record straight and answer things that are sort of cloudy in one's mind that the media has misconstrued. |
Karl Lagerfeld | This I can answer as a question in a few years because in the middle of things, you can not answer because you have not the distance. What you think it is may be seen from the near future. |
Peter Jennings | Precisely. The trouble with polling, as we both know, is they polls don't always ask the complex questions. And when they do, people answer in different forms. |
Robert Novak | Mr. Chairman, we've just got about a minute before we take another break, and I've got two quick questions. I hope you can give a quick answer. |
Rush Limbaugh | In fact, the answer here is, if there ever is global warming, if it ever does really happen, the answer to it is clear-cut! |
Trisha Meili | I don't think so. I don't think so. So, well, I'll answer your question, but also it's just amazing to me what the brains absorbs and not. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| Speaker | Term | Phrase(s) |
Abraham Lincoln | 1861-1865 | As a general rule, I abstain from reading the reports of attacks upon myself, wishing not to be provoked by that to which I can not properly offer an answer. |
Woodrow Wilson | 1913-1921 | That is the question I am going to try to answer, in order, if I may, to interpret the occasion. |
Harry S. Truman | 1945-1953 | Production is the only fully effective answer. |
Richard Nixon | 1969-1974 | To a crisis of the spirit, we need an answer of the spirit. |
Gerald Ford | 1974-1977 | This legislation was late, not the complete answer to energy independence, but still a start in the right direction. |
Jimmy Carter | 1977-1981 | We have launched scientific inquiries that should answer many veterans' questions about their health and should provide the basis for establishing sound compensation policy. |
Ronald Reagan | 1981-1989 | A creative, competitive America is the answer to a changing world, not trade wars that would close doors, create greater barriers, and destroy millions of jobs. |
Bill Clinton | 1993-2001 | The answer cannot be to dwell on our differences, but to build on our shared values. |
George W. Bush | 2001-2005 | Our generation has now heard history's call, and we will answer it. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
| "Answer" is generally used as a noun (singular) -- approximately 66.75% of the time. "Answer" is used about 13,849 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted) |
| Parts of Speech | Percent | Usage per 100 Million Words | Rank in English |
| Noun (singular) | 66.75% | 9,244 | 1,028 |
| Lexical Verb (infinitive) | 29.13% | 4,035 | 2,444 |
| Lexical Verb (base form) | 4.12% | 570 | 11,057 |
| Total | 100.00% | 13,849 | N/A |
Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.
| The following table summarizes names derived from the word "answer". | |||
| Name | Gender | Language | Meaning |
| Anamim | N/A | Biblical | Answer |
| Anammelech | N/A | Biblical | Answer |
| Anathoth | N/A | Biblical | Answer |
| Anem | N/A | Biblical | An answer |
| Aner | N/A | Biblical | Answer |
| Baanah | N/A | Biblical | In the answer |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references.
| |||
Expressions using "answer": ad as one's head shall answer for ♦ affirmative answer ♦ an answer in the affirmative ♦ answer a charge ♦ answer a purpose ♦ answer a question ♦ answer back ♦ answer for ♦ answer for smb. ♦ answer for smth. ♦ answer hopes ♦ answer in the affirmative ♦ answer in the negative ♦ answer machine ♦ answer one's expectations ♦ answer properly ♦ answer smb. ♦ answer smb. back ♦ answer the affirmative ♦ answer the bell ♦ answer the door ♦ answer the helm ♦ answer the purpose ♦ answer the telephone ♦ answer to ♦ answer to my question! ♦ answer to one's dreams ♦ answer to the bell ♦ answer to your name! ♦ answer with a nod ♦ answer with confidence ♦ blunt answer ♦ brittle answer ♦ correct answer ♦ diplomatic answer ♦ direct answer ♦ don't answer back! ♦ easy answer ♦ equivocal answer ♦ evasive answer ♦ get an answer ♦ give right answer ♦ give the wrong answer ♦ have an answer for everything ♦ have to answer for ♦ he was at a loss to answer ♦ icily answer ♦ in answer to ♦ make answer ♦ nack answer ♦ negative answer ♦ oblique answer ♦ pat answer ♦ plain answer ♦ positive answer ♦ press for an answer ♦ press smb. for an answer ♦ prompt answer ♦ question and answer session ♦ scowl an answer ♦ see Answer ♦ sharp answer ♦ smart answer ♦ speedy answer ♦ straightforward answer ♦ tell the answer ♦ the right answer ♦ To con answer ♦ unfavorable answer ♦ unfavourable answer ♦ unkind answer ♦ verbal answer ♦ vouchsafe smb. no answer. Additional references. | |
| Hyphenated Usage | |
Beginning with "answer": answer-back, answer-machine, answer-orientated, answer-phone. | |
Ending with "answer": question-and-answer, question-answer. | |
Containing "answer": don't-answer-back-i'm-in-charge-here. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com. |
| Language | Translations for "answer"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses. | |
Afrikaans | beantwoord, antwoord (reply, respond), beskeid (document, paper, reply). (various references) | |
Albanian | përgjigje (comeback, rejoinder, replication, reply, respond, response, retort, return). (various references) | |
Arabic | كان مسئولا, جواب (rejoinder, reply, response, return), إجابة (response), أجاب (rejoin, reply, respond, return), رد على (cater for, rejoin), رد (answer back, beat, counter, disallow, drive back, pay, pay back, put off, rebound, rebuff, rebut, rebuttal, rejoinder, render, repay, repayment, repercussion, reply, respond, response, retrieve, return, reverberate, reversion, riposte, spurn, turn away). (various references) | |
Basque | erantzun (answer to). (various references) | |
Blackfoot | oyi'tsi (to answer). (various references) | |
Bulgarian | успявам (be in time for, get on, hack, make out, manage, pan out, pull off, succeed, win through), решение (adjudication, award, conclusion, decision, determination, judgement, judgment, pronouncement, resolution, resolve, say so, sentence, settlement, solution, verdict, working out), реагирам на, реприза (recap, recapitulation), възражение (caveat, demur, demurrer, deprecation, exception, expostulation, objection, protest, protestation, question, rejoinder, remonstrance, reply, reservation), откликвам (respond, vibrate), отговор (rejoinder, replication, reply, response, solution), отговарям (accord, account, correspond, fit, fulfill, match, rejoin, replicate, reply, respond, retort, vouch), отглас (ablaut, echo, gradation, resonance, response), отвръщам на (return, sauce), отзвук (backwash, echo, reflection, repercussion, response), защита (advocacy, apology, bulwark, championship, counsel for the defense, defence, defense, palladium, plea, pleading, protection, rampart, safeguard, security, shield, tower, vindication), задоволявам (cater for, content, cover, fulfil, fulfill, gratify, indulge, please, salve, satisfy, serve, slake, suffice, suit). (various references) | |
Catalan | resposta (reply). (various references) | |
Chinese | 響應 (respond to), 荅 (agree, to answer), 解答 (explanation), 答案 (solution), 答復 (reply), 答复, 答 (agree, echo, reply, respond, return, to answer), 回答 (reply). (various references) | |
Cornish | gortheby (to answer). (various references) | |
Czech | reagovat (behave, freak, react, respond), odpovídat (respond), odpovìdìt (counter, rejoin, reply, say), odpovìï (come back, rejoinder, reply, response, retort), odpověď, odmlouvat (answer back, talk back), odepsat (write back, write off), řešení (resolution, solution). (various references) | |
Danish | svare (reply, respond), svar (reply). (various references) | |
Dutch | antwoorden op (reply, respond), antwoorden (reply, respond). (various references) | |
Esperanto | respondo (reply), respondi al, respondi (reply, respond), esti konforma al (answer to, come up to). (various references) | |
Faeroese | svara (reply, respond). (various references) | |
Farsi | پاسخ دادن (Reply, Respond), پاسخ (Reply, Respond, Response), ضمانت کردن (Guarantee, Insure, Sponsor, Vouch), جواب دادن (Counter), ازعهده برامدن (Acquit, Afford, Cope, Tackle), دفاع.جوابگوشدن , بکارامدن , بکاررفتن (Serve), بدردخوردن (Avail, Dow, Serve). (various references) | |
Finnish | vastata (answer for, be responsible for, correspond to equal, give an answer, reply, respond, return). (various references) | |
French | réponse (answer back, answering), répondre (answer back). (various references) | |
Frisian | antwurdzje (reply, respond), antwurd (reply), andert (reply), anderje (reply, respond), beskie (reply). (various references) | |
German | Antwort (reply, replying, responds, response), antworten (answers, counter, reply, respond, responses, to answer, to answer (to), to reply, to respond, write back), Lösung (breaking off, cancellation, denouement, dip, dissolving, key, lotion, resolution, resolving, root, severance, severing, solution), erwidern (pay back, reciprocate, rejoin, repay, reply, respond, retort, return, to reply), beantworten (reply, reply to, respond, respond to, to answer). (various references) | |
Greek | απάντηση (rebutter, rejoinder, reply, reply to, rescript, response, riposte), απαντώ (occur, rejoin, reply, reply to, respond, respond to, retort). (various references) | |
Hawaiian | përgjigje (reply). (various references) | |
Hebrew |
