n. the principal 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

n. a nonverbal reaction; "his answer to any problem was to get drunk"; "their answer was to sue me"

n. [a reply to a question or request]

n. the speech act of replying to a question

v. match or correspond; "The drawing of the suspect answers to the description the victim gave"

v. be satisfactory for; meet the requirements of or serve the purpose of; "This may answer her needs"

v. respond to a signal; "answer the door"; "answer the telephone"

v. react to a stimulus or command; "The steering of my new car answers to the slightest touch"

v. give the correct answer or solution to; "answer a question"; "answer the riddle"

v. give a defence or refutation of (a charge) or in (an argument); "The defendant answered to all the charges of the prosecution"

v. understand the meaning of; "The question concerning the meaning of life cannot be answered"

v. 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"

v. react verbally; "She didn't want to answer"; "answer the question"; "We answered that we would accept the invitation"

n. the speech act of continuing a conversational exchange; "he growled his reply"

n. (fencing) a counterattack made immediately after successfully parrying the opponents lunge

n. a statement acknowledging something or someone; "she must have seen him but she gave no sign of acknowledgment"; "the preface contained an acknowledgment of those who had helped her"

n. (religion) a solemn declaration that serves the same purpose as an oath (if an oath is objectionable to the person on religious or ethical grounds)

n. a public declaration of your faith

n. an expression of gratitude; "he expressed his appreciation in a short note"

n. a feeling of thankfulness and appreciation; "he was overwhelmed with gratitude for their help"

n. the manner in which something is greeted; "she did not expect the cold reception she received from her superiors"

n. (law) a pleading by the defendant in reply to a plaintiff's surrejoinder

v. serve a purpose, role, or function; "The tree stump serves as a table"; "The female students served as a control group"; "This table would serve very well"; "His freedom served him well"; "The table functions as a desk"

v. satisfy a condition or restriction; "Does this paper meet the requirements for the degree?"

v. to say again or imitate; "followers echoing the cries of their leaders"

v. report the receipt of; "The program committee acknowledged the submission of the authors of the paper"

v. furnish a justifying analysis or explanation; "I can't account for the missing money"

n. an instance of questioning; "there was a question about my training"; "we made inquiries of all those who were present"