(~s, ~ing, ~ed)
Frequency: The word is one of the 700 most common words in English.
1.
When you ~ someone who has asked you something, you say something back to them.
Just ~ the question...
He paused before ~ing...
‘When?’ asked Alba, ‘Tonight’, ~ed Tom...
Williams ~ed that he had no specific proposals yet.
VERB: V n, V, V with quote, V that
2.
An ~ is something that you say when you ~ someone.
Without waiting for an ~, he turned and went in through the door...
I don’t quite know what to say in ~ to your question.
= reply, response
N-COUNT: also in N to n
3.
If you say that someone will not take no for an ~, you mean that they go on trying to make you agree to something even after you have refused.
He would never take no for an ~.
PHRASE: with brd-neg
4.
If you ~ a letter or advertisement, you write to the person who wrote it.
She ~ed an advert for a job as a cook.
VERB: V n, also V
5.
An ~ is a letter that you write to someone who has written to you.
I wrote to him but I never had an ~ back...
She wrote to Roosevelt’s secretary in ~ to his letter of the day before.
= reply, response
N-COUNT: also in N to n
6.
When you ~ the telephone, you pick it up when it rings. When you ~ the door, you open it when you hear a knock or the bell.
She ~ed her phone on the first ring...
A middle-aged woman ~ed the door.
VERB: V n, V n, also V
•
Answer is also a noun.
I knocked at the front door and there was no ~.
N-COUNT: usu sing
7.
An ~ to a problem is a solution to it.
There are no easy ~s to the problems facing the economy...
Prison is not the ~ for most young offenders...
N-COUNT: oft N to n
8.
Someone’s ~ to a question in a test or quiz is what they write or say in an attempt to give the facts that are asked for. The ~ to a question is the fact that was asked for.
Simply marking an ~ wrong will not help the pupil to get future examples correct...
N-COUNT: oft N to n
9.
When you ~ a question in a test or quiz, you write or say something in an attempt to give the facts that are asked for.
To obtain her degree, she ~ed 81 questions over 10 papers.
VERB: V n
10.
Your ~ to something that someone has said or done is what you say or do in response to it or in defence of yourself.
In ~ to speculation that she wouldn’t finish the race, she boldly declared her intention of winning it.
= reply, response
N-COUNT: also in N to n
11.
If you ~ something that someone has said or done, you respond to it.
He ~ed her smile with one of his own...
That statement seemed designed to ~ criticism of allied bombing missions.
= counter
VERB: V n with n, V n, also V n by -ing
12.
If something ~s a need or purpose, it satisfies it, because it has the right qualities.
We provide specially designed shopping trolleys to ~ the needs of parents with young children.
= satisfy
VERB: V n
13.
If someone or something ~s a particular description or ~s to it, they have the characteristics described.
Two men ~ing the description of the suspects tried to enter Switzerland...
The Japanese never built any aircraft remotely ~ing to this description.
= fit
VERB: V n, V to n