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To speak in defense against; to reply to in defense; as, to answer a charge; to answer an accusation.

Obliged to answer; liable to be called to account; liable to pay, indemnify, or make good; accountable; amenable; responsible; as, an agent is answerable to his principal; to be answerable for a debt, or for damages. Will any man argue that . . . he can not be justly punished, but is answerable only to God Swift.…

The quality of being answerable, liable, responsible, or correspondent.

In an answerable manner; in due proportion or correspondence; suitably.

One who answers.

Having no answer, or impossible to be answered. Byron.

To answer in return; to repay; to compensate; to make amends for. Which in weight to reanswer, his pettiness would bow under. Shak.

The quality of being unanswerable; unanswerableness.

Not answerable; irrefutable; conclusive; decisive; as, he have an unanswerable argument. -- Un*an"swer*a*ble*ness, n. -- Un*an"swer*a*bly, adv.

Not answered; not replied; as, an unanswered letter.

The French word answering to the English abbot, the head of an abbey; but commonly a title of respect given in France to every one vested with the ecclesiastical habit or dress.

To stand the consequences of; to answer for; to suffer for. Dearly I abide that boast so vain. Milton.

To render an account; to answer in judgment; -- with for; as, we must account for the use of our opportunities.

Liable to be called on to render an account; answerable; as, every man is accountable to God for his conduct.

A diphthong in the Latin language; used also by the Saxon writers. It answers to the Gr. æ was generally replaced by a, the long e or ee. In derivatives from Latin words with ae, it is mostly superseded by e. For most words found with this initial combination, the reader will therefore search under the letter E.…

That affirms; asserting that the fact is so; declaratory of what exists; answering "yes" to a question; -- opposed to negative; as, an affirmative answer; an affirmative vote.

The Arabic definite article answering to the English the; as, Alkoran, the Koran or the Book; alchemy, the chemistry.

A summons to arms, as on the approach of an enemy. Arming to answer in a night alarm. Shak.

elongs to the following word, being a kind of intensive prefix (orig. meaning asunder and answering to the LG. ter-, HG. zer- ). It is frequently to be met with in old books, used without the all. Thus Wyclif says, "The vail of the temple was to rent:" and of Judas, "He was hanged and to-burst the middle:" i. e., burst…

The first letter in the Greek alphabet, answering to A, and hence used to denote the beginning. In am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last. Rev. xxii. 13.