Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
Reply
Re-ply′
(r?-pl?′)
, Verb.
I.
[
imp. & p. p.
Replied
(-pl?d′)
; p. pr. & vb. n.
Replying
.] 1.
To make a return in words or writing; to respond; to answer.
O man, who art thou that
repliest
against God? Rom. ix. 20.
2.
(Law)
To answer a defendant’s plea.
3.
Figuratively, to do something in return for something done;
as, to
reply
to a signal; to reply
to the fire of a battery.
Syn. – To answer; respond; rejoin.
Re-ply′
,Verb.
T.
To return for an answer.
Milton.
Lords, vouchsafe
To give me hearing what I shall
To give me hearing what I shall
reply
. Shakespeare
Re-ply′
,Noun.
pl.
Replies
(-pl[GREEK]z′)
. That which is said, written, or done in answer to what is said, written, or done by another; an answer; a response.
Syn. – Answer; rejoinder; response.
–
Reply
, Rejoinder
, Answer
. A reply is a distinct response to a formal question or attack in speech or writing. A rejoinder is a second reply (a reply to a reply) in a protracted discussion or controversy. The word answer is used in two senses, namely (1), in the most general sense of a mere response; as, the answer to a question; or (2), in the sense of a decisive and satisfactory confutation of an adversary's argument, as when we speak of a triumphant answer to the speech or accusations of an opponent. Here the noun corresponds to a frequent use of the verb, as when we say. “This will answer (i.e., fully meet) the end in view;” “It answers the purpose.” Webster 1828 Edition
Reply
REPLY'
,Verb.
I.
1.
To answer; to make a return in words or writing to something said or written by another.O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Rom. 9.
2.
In law, to answer a defendant's plea. The defendant pleads in bar to the plaintiff's declaration; the plaintiff replies to the defendant's plea in bar.REPLY'
,Verb.
T.
REPLY'
, n.1.
An answer; that which is said or written in answer to what is said or written by another.2.
A book or pamphlet written in answer to another.