Forms: 1 and-, ond-, -swarian, -suarian, -sworian, -swerian, 2 ænd- andswarien, -erien, 2–3 an- onswerien, 3 andswaren, -eren, ond- onswere(n, un- onsquare, 3–4 answere(n, 4 an- on- unswar(e, answer-n, ansuerye, 4–5 ansuere, aunswar(e, 4–7 answere, 5 unswer, 5–7 aun-, awnswer(e, 7 answeare, 4– answer. [OE. andswar-ian, direct deriv. of sb. andswaru (see prec.). Thus, orig. used of rebutting a charge or accusation; its extension to the common sense of reply is parallel to that of the Gr. ἀποκρίν-εσθαι, f. ἀπό off + κρίν-ειν to judge, condemn, i.e., to get oneself off from judgment; and the L. re-spondēre, f. re- back, undoing + spondēre to pledge oneself, undertake a liability, hence to rebut a liability or legal obligation.]
Gen. sign. I. To make a statement in reply to a legal charge; to meet a charge of any kind; to be liable so to do, or to suffer the consequences, to atone, pay the penalty. II. To speak (write) or act, in reply to a question, remark, or expression of will or opinion, or in response to a mere sound or sign. III. To act in response to an act, imitatively, suitably, consequently; to be so constituted as to imitate, fit, suit; to be in physical or mental conformity or logical consequence to anything. Originally intr., with dative; but through various elisions and levelling of inflexions at length also used trans. in nearly every sense.
I. To answer to a charge.
1. intr. To speak in reply or opposition to a charge or accusation, to make a rebutting statement, defend oneself. a. simply.
c. 950. Lindisf. Gosp., Luke xxi. 14. Ne ʓie fore-ðencʓæ huu ʓie ondsuariʓa [Rushw. ondsworiʓað].
c. 1000. Ags. G., ibid. Hu ʓe andswarian.
c. 1160. Hatton G. Andswerien.
1297. R. Glouc., 194. We þe setteþ day of þys nexte yere, At Rome uorto ansuerye.
c. 1400. Beryn, 2092. Graunte me day til to morow, that I myȝt be avisid To answere forth.
1599. Shaks., Much Ado, IV. ii. 25. How answer you for your selues?
1601. F. Tate, Househ. Ord. Edw. II., § 51 (1876), 35. He … shall aunswere before the steward … if any complaint be made.
1687. Luttrell, Brief Rel. (1857), I. 403. Then he was ordered immediately to answer over.
1768. Blackstone, Comm., III. 397. That the defendant do answer over, respondeat ouster; that is, put in a more substantial plea.
Mod. To answer at the bar of public opinion.
b. with for. To answer charges in regard to; to be responsible or accountable for.
1384. Wyclif, De Eccles., viii. Wks. III. 357. He shal answere for þes soulis þat his children leesen.
1582. Lyly, in 4 Cent. Eng. Lett., 39. Before whome for my speache I shal aunswer.
1600. Shaks., A. Y. L., V. i. 13. We that haue good wits, haue much to answer for.
1711. Steele, Spect., No. 263, ¶ 1. I have no outrageous Offence against my own excellent Parents to answer for.
1838. Lytton, Leila, i. 6. I answer alone to Allah for my motives.
2. intr. To speak or make a statement in behalf of another; to undertake responsibility for. spec. To stand sponsor (for a child).
c. 1200. Trin. Coll. Hom., 17. Here godfaderes sullen for hem andswerie bifore þe prest ate fanstone.
1483. Caxton, G. de la Tour, iij b. How euery good woman ought to ansuere for her lord in al thinge.
1611. Bible, Gen. xxx. 33. So shall my righteousnesse answere for mee.
1762. H. Walpole, Vertue’s Anecd. Paint. (1786), IV. 71. The late king and queen, then prince and princess, answered for his son.
3. intr. To undertake a responsibility, to guarantee, give an assurance. Const. for.
1728. Pope, Dunc., Advt. I cannot answer but some mistakes may have slipt into [this edition].
1866. Mrs. Gaskell, Wives & Dau., II. xxi. 326. ‘I’ll answer for it, Mrs. Goodenough saw Molly.’… When Miss Browning ‘answered for it’ Miss Phœbe gave up doubting.
1881. Daily Tel., 27 Dec., 2/4. King Henpeckerini, a musical monarch, whose tunefulness is answered for by Mr. Henry Nordblom.
4. trans. To make a defence against (a charge); hence, b. To give a satisfactory answer for, to justify. arch.
1552. Huloet, Answer an action, or plaint, Dicere causam.
c. 1590. Marlowe, Faust. (2nd vers.), 124. We were best look that your devil can answer the stealing of this same cup.
c. 1680. Beveridge, Serm. (1729), I. 307. How they will answer it … at the last day I know not.
1793. Smeaton, Edystone L., § 125. The Proprietors could not answer it to the public … if they kept me in waiting.
5. To reply io, meet, or rebut an objection or argument. † a. intr. Obs. b. trans.
c. 1305. St. Kath. (in E. E. P., 1862), 33. Mid oþer reisouns of clergie þat maide preouede also þat here godes noþing nere … Þemperour stod and ne couþe answerie in non wise.
c. 1374. Chaucer, Boeth., V. iv. 161. Whan I haue … ansewered to þo resouns by whiche þou art ymoeued.
c. 1526. Frith, Disput. Purg. (1829), 107. Let us see how he answereth the argument.
1581. Charke, in Confer., IV. (1584), F f b. You haue so often chalenged vs to answere you an argument.
1635. A. Stafford, Fem. Glory (1869), 81. I determined to answeare his Forgeries.
Mod. So far as I know, that protest has never been answered. No attempt has been made to answer my objections. Some theologians of Queen’s College essayed to answer Locke.
6. To meet the charge in regard to (an act) practically; to suffer the consequences, atone for, make amends. a. intr. Const. for (to obs.).
1297. R. Glouc., 53. Ȝef ys neuew hadde mysdo … he scholde Onswere to eche mon.
1601. Shaks., Jul. C., III. ii. 85. If it were so, it were a grievous fault And grievouslie hath Caesar answered for it.
1710. W. Mather, Yng. Man’s Comp. (1727), 122. The Husband must answer to his Wive’s Faults; if she wrong another … he must make Satisfaction.
† b. trans., esp. with it as obj. Obs.
1594. Shaks., Rich. III., IV. ii. 96. Stanley looke to your wife: if she conuey Letters to Richmond, you shall answer it.
1625. Donne, Serm., cl. Wks. VI. 61. Whosoever is dead in that family by thy negligence, thou shall answer the King that subject.
1754. Sherlock, Disc. (1759), I. i. 31. If you receive not the Light you must answer it.
7. To satisfy a pecuniary claim. † a. intr. To be responsible for payment of the claim. Const. of, for. Obs.
1480. Caxton, Chron. Eng., ccxxv. 230. The lordes of euery toun wher suche thyng shold be taxed … shold ansuere to the kyng therof.
1628. Coke, On Litt., 54 a. Tenant in dower … shall answer for the waste done by a stranger.
† b. trans. To account to or satisfy (a person) of or for the claim; to repay, recompense. Obs.
1413. Lydg., Pylgr. Sowle, I. xvii. (1859), 18. By whiche caucyon he myght bynd hym self for to ansuere me yf that his accyon be desalowyd.
1523. Ld. Berners, Froiss., I. cccviii. 467. We wolde demaunde good hostages and sufficient, to answere vs of our horses agayne.
1577. Holinshed, Chron., II. 240. The emperour declared plainlie that he would be answered for such summes of monie as king Richard had taken.
1641. Baker, Chron. (1679), 231/1. That King Richard should yearly pay and answer the Duke of all the revenues.
c. trans. To satisfy (the claim), discharge (a debt), pay (the sum legally demanded); hence, to be sufficient for, meet (a pecuniary liability).
1581. Lambarde, Eiren., II. iv. (1588), 177. Their armour and weapon shall be prised, and the same answered to the use of the Queenes Maiestie.
1596. Shaks., 1 Hen. IV., I. iii. 185. This proud King, who studies … To answer all the Debt he owes vnto you.
1608. Yorksh. Trag., I. ii. His fortunes cannot answer his expense.
a. 1626. Bacon, Max. & Uses Com. Law, 60. The third part must descend to the heire to answer guardship.
1710. in Lond. Gaz., mmmmdclxxiii/3. Officer for any refusal or neglect of his Duty, to answer Damages.
1770. Langhorne, Plutarch’s Lives (1879), I. 386/1. A fine which his circumstances could not answer.
1832. Ht. Martineau, Hill & Valley, i. 6. A few shillings … to answer any sudden occasion.
¶ In senses 8–11 the idea of compensation is linked with that of correspondence; cf. III.
† 8. trans. To prove a satisfactory return or equivalent for (an expenditure); to repay, recoup. Obs.
1596. Bp. Barlow, 3 Serm., Ded. 81. Yet did they not answer either the threshers labour, or the owners measure.
1673. Ray, Journ. Low Countr., Pref. Nothing … which might answer their trouble and expence.
1731. Swift, Corr., II. 649. The maid will … sell more butter and cheese than will answer her wages.
1780. W. Coxe, Russ. Discov., 7. No crop … sufficient … to answer the pains and expence of raising it.
† b. To repay, pay (a person). Obs. rare.
1587. Fleming, Cont. Holinshed’s Chron., III. 415/1. The said countries, which with their riches by common estimation answered the emperour Charles equallie to his Indies.
c. intr. To be advantageous, or serviceable to.
1850. Lytton, Wks., II. VIII. iii. 15. If Beatrice di Negra would indeed be rich, she might answer to himself as a wife.
1865. Carlyle, Fredk. Gt., V. XIII. viii. 90. He was in the way of making such investments … and found them answer to him.
9. trans. To satisfy or fulfil (wishes, hopes, expectations, etc.).
1653. Walton, Angler, i. 2. I shall almost answer your hopes.
1673. Cave, Prim. Chr., I. i. 3. This he well foresaw and the event truly answered it.
1765. Wilkes, Corr. (1805), II. 137. Were you here with me, my fondest wishes would be answered.
1878. Bosw. Smith, Carthage, 126. The result answered his expectations.
10. trans. To fulfil or accomplish (an end); to suit (a purpose).
1714. Grove, Spect., No. 588, ¶ 2. In both Cases the Ends of Self Love are equally answered.
1749. Fielding, Tom Jones, VII. xiii. I applied a fomentation … which highly answered the intention.
1790. Paley, Hor. Paul., I. 8. My design will be fully answered.
1877. Mozley, Univ. Serm., ii. 33. Less severity would not have answered his purpose.
b. trans. To fulfil, satisfy the requirements, etc. of (a person); to suit.
1816. Scott, Antiq., xvi. (1829), 105. He offered him a beast he thought wad answer him weel eneugh.
11. intr. (ellipt.). To serve the purpose, attain the end, succeed, prove a success. Also (with suitable qualification): To turn out (well or ill).
1783. Cowper, Lett., 19 Jan. Their labour was almost in vain before, but now it answers.
1785. T. Jefferson, Writ. (1859), I. 488. If they find our timber answer.
1856. Froude, Hist. Eng., I. 27. It answered better as a speculation to convert arable land into pasture.
c. 1865. J. Wylde, in Circ. Sc., I. 314/1. Boxwood charcoal answers best for this purpose.
II. To answer a question, remark, etc.
12. To speak or write in reply to a question, remark, or any expression of desire or opinion; to reply, respond, rejoin; also To reply to an implied question, to solve a doubt.
Const. a. simply; b. to a person; c. a person as indirect (dat.) obj.; d. to or unto the question, etc.; e. the question, etc., as obj.; † f. (combining c and d) a person to his question; g. (combining c and e) a person his question; h. with the answer as subordinate objective sentence, or clause introduced by that; i. with the answer as simple obj., sb. or pron.; j. (combining b or c and h); k. (combining b or c and i); l. (combining d and h); m. (combining d and i).
a. c. 1200. Trin. Coll. Hom., 129. He answerede þus, queðinde.
1375. Barbour, Bruce, I. 437. The byschop hard him swa ansuer.
1590. Shaks., Com. Err., II. ii. 195. Why prat’st thou to thy selfe, and answer’st not?
1765. H. Walpole, Cast. Otranto, v. (1798), 79. Thou answerest from the point.
a. 1842. Tennyson, Miller’s Dau., 118. Will she answer if I call?
b. c. 1230. Ancr. R., 10. O þisse wise answerieð to þeo þet askeð ou of ower ordre.
c. 1400. Apol. Loll., 68. I þe Lord schal ansuere to him.
1483. Caxton, G. de la Tour, iij b. No good woman ought to ansuere to her husbond whan he is wrothe.
1607. Shaks., Cor., III. iii. 61. Answer to us.
1842. Tennyson, Love & Duty, 28. To that man My work shall answer.
c. c. 950. Lindisf. Gosp., John xviii. 22. Ondsuæræstu suæ ðæm biscobi.
c. 1000. Ags. G., ibid. Andswarast ðu swa ðam bisceope.
c. 1160. Hatton G., ibid. Ændswerest þu swa þam biscoppe.
a. 1300. Cursor M., 1304. Mildely he him þam vnsquerede.
a. 1450. Myrc, 930. Unsware thow me.
1601. Shaks., Jul. C., IV. iii. 78. Should I haue answer’d Caius Cassius so?
1611. Bible, Prov. xxvi. 4. Answer not a fool according to his folly.
1791. Cowper, Iliad, IV. 490. Whom with a frowning brow, the brave Tydides answer’d.
1859. Tennyson, Elaine, 286. Lancelot spoke And answered him at full.
d. c. 1400. Destr. Troy, XXXIV. 13266. To all thing he answarit abilly.
1592. Shaks., Rom. & Jul., II. v. 35. Is thy newes good or bad? answere to that.
1699. Bentley, Phal., Pref. 68. Mr. B. here answers to a Question, that never was ask’d him.
1881. N. T. (Revised), Luke, xiv. 6. They could not answer again unto these things.
e. 1722. De Foe, Plague, 67. To answer their question directly.
1864. Tennyson, Aylmer’s F., 465. My lady’s cousin Answered all queries touching those at home.
f. c. 1385. Chaucer, L. G. W., 2079. Ariadne in this manere Answerde [v.r. ansuerd] hym to his profre.
1526. Tindale, Luke xiv. 6. They coulde not answer him agayne to that. 1611 They could not answere him againe to these things.
1605. Shaks., Macb., IV. i. 60. Answer me To what I aske you.
g. 1593. Shaks., 3 Hen. VI., III. iii. 238. Ere thou go, but answer me one doubt.
Mod. Answer me this question.
h. a. 1300. Cursor M., 1095. He onsquared [v.r. ansuerd, vnswerd] … Quen was I keper of þi childe.
1340. Ayenb., 190. He ansuerede þet he ne hedde bote þri pans.
1611. Bible, Acts xxii. 8. I answered, Who art thou, Lord?
1733. Pope, Mor. Ess., i. 84, Wks. 1735, II. II. 5. The mighty Czar might answer, he was drunk.
1860. O. Meredith, Lucille, I. iv. xxi. Who can answer where any road leads to?
i. 1382. Wyclif, Matt. xxvii. 12. Whanne he was acusid … he answerid nothing.
c. 1460. Towneley Myst., 196. Fyrst wold I here, What he wold answere.
1860. Dickens, Uncomm. Trav., xv. (1866), 109/1. Chips answered never a word.
j. c. 1175. Lamb. Hom., 45. Paul him onswerde, Lauerd ic biwepe þas monifolde pine.
c. 1250. Gen. & Ex., 4107. God hem andswerede, ‘iosue Ic wile ben loder-man after ðe.’
1596. Spenser, F. Q., V. ii. 11. To whom he aunswerd wroth, ‘loe there thy hire.’
1611. Bible, Acts xxv. 16. To whom I answered, It is not the maner of the Romanes [etc.].
k. c. 950. Lindisf. Gosp., Mark xiv. 40. Ne wiston huæd scealdon onsuæreʓa him.
c. 1160. Hatton G., ibid. Nyston hwæt hyo him andswereden.
c. 1230. Ancr. R., 96. Ne answerie ȝe him nowiht.
1611. Bible, Job xxiii. 5. The words which he would answere me. Ibid., Matt. xxii. 46. No man was able to answere him a word.
l. 1382. Wyclif, Acts xxv. 16. To which I answerid that [etc.].
1756. Burke, Subl. & B., Wks. I. 269. To this I answer that admitting [etc.].
m. 1593. Shaks., 3 Hen. VI., IV. vi. 45. What answeres Clarence to his Soueraignes will?
13. Coupled with say. Sometimes without preceding question. (A Hellenism of the N.T.) arch.
c. 1000. Ags. Gosp., John iii. 9. Ða andswarode Nichodemus & cwæð. Hu maʓon þas þing þus ʓeweorðan?
c. 1160. Hatton G., ibid. Ða andswerede N. & cwæð.
c. 1230. Hali Meid., 3. Ho mei onsweren & seien.
c. 1420. Chron. Vilod., 466. Unswered þe monk, and sayde ryȝt þus.
1526. Tindale, Luke xiii. 25. He shall answer and saye vnto you: I knowe you not.
1611. Bible, Mark xi. 14. And Jesus answered, and said vnto it, No man eate fruit of thee hereafter.
14. To make a rejoinder to anything authoritative or final, or where silence or acquiescence would be proper; to reply impertinently.
1526. Tindale, Tit. ii. 9. The servauntes exhort … to please in all thynges, not answerynge agayne. [So 1611; Wyclif, aȝeinseiynge].
1853. Lytton, My Novel, I. xiii. 53. Mrs. Hazeldean (observing Frank colouring, and about to reply).—Hush, Frank, never answer your father.
Mod. You should never answer back.
15. trans. or absol. To solve a problem put in the form of a question; to perform the exercises or ‘questions’ set in an examination paper.
1742. Bailey, To Answer … to solve a Proposition or Question in Arithmetick or Geometry, &c. by declaring what the Amount is.
1868. M. Pattison, Acad. Organ., 294. The student himself will tell you that he answered such a paper ‘out of Grote,’ and such another ‘out of Maine’ or ‘Austin.’ Ibid., 296. No candidate would be expected in three hours to answer all the thirteen [questions].
Mod. You have answered very well.
16. To answer to a name: lit. to answer when addressed by that name, and thus to acknowledge it as one’s own; to have the name of.
1599. Shaks., Much Ado, V. iv. 73. I answer to that name, what is your will? Ibid. (1607), Cor., V. i. 12. Coriolanus He would not answer to: Forbad all names.
1758. Johnson, Idler, No. 12, ¶ 5. A spaniel … that answers to the name of Ranger.
17. To say or sing antiphonally.
1611. Bible, 1 Sam. xviii. 7. The women answered one another, as they played.
1697. Dryden, Virg. Ecl., VII. 4. Both alike inspir’d To sing, and answer as the Song requir’d.
18. To make a responsive sound, as an echo.
c. 1385. Chaucer, L. G. W., 2193. The holwe rokkis answerden hire a-gayn.
1596. Spenser, F. Q., II. xii. 33. The rolling sea, resounding soft, In his big base them fitly answered.
1667. Milton, P. L., X. 862. With other echo late I taught your Shades To answer.
1709. Pope, Summer, 16. The woods shall answer, and their echo ring.
1847. Tennyson, Princ., Prol. 66. Echo answer’d in her sleep From hollow fields.
19. To reply favorably to (a petitioner), or conformably to (his petition). Cf. 9.
1593. Shaks., Lucr., 1606. At length addressed to answer his desire.
1611. Bible, Ps. xxvii. 7. Haue mercie also vpon mee, and answere me.
1648. Milton, Ps. lxxxvi. 24. Thou wilt … Answer what I prayed.
1689. Col. Records Penn., I. 313. With reluctancy to answer my Request.
1864. Tennyson, Boädicea, 22. The Gods have heard it, O Icenian!… Doubt not ye the Gods have answer’d.
† b. To give or administer (anything) in answer to petition. Obs. rare.
1586. J. Hooker, Girald. Irel., in Holinshed, II. 151/2. Hir maiesties principall and high courts, to answer the law to all sutors throughout the whole realme.
20. To reply to what is practically a request, as a knock at the door, a bell, or other signal. a. intr.
1597. Shaks., 2 Hen. IV., I. i. 6. Knock but at the gate, and he himself will answer.
1722. De Foe, Plague, 51. They knocked at the door, but nobody answered.
b. trans. To answer the door, the bell, etc.
1862. Mrs. Wood, Channings, II. 349. He answers all the rings at the yard bell.
1866. W. Collins, Armadale, III. 205. The woman had left us to answer the door.
1878. Halliwell, Dict., s.v., At a farm-house near South Petherton, a maidservant was recently asked why she did not answer the door. The girl replied … ‘Why—why—why, if you plaze, mim, I—I—I did’n hear’n speak.’
21. To make a sign of any kind in response to, or acknowledgement of, any signal. a. intr. b. trans.
1805. Sir E. Berry, in Nicolas, Disp. (1846), VII. 117. At daylight I made the Private Signal which was not answered.
Mod. He gave a nod; I answered with a wink.
III. To answer in similarity, to correspond.
22. trans. To act in conformity with (any indication of will or law), to obey; esp. of a ship: To answer the helm.
1610. Shaks., Temp., I. ii. 190. I come To answer thy best pleasure.
1637. Milton, Comus, 888. Bridle in thy headlong wave Till thou our summons answered have.
1738. J. Keill, Anim. Œcon., Pref. 11. That the Indications … are right, or such as, if answered, would cure the Disease.
1854. G. B. Richardson, Univ. Code, v. 2578 = Will not answer her helm.
23. intr. To act in sympathy with, or in response (to), action on the part of another.
1684. R. Waller, Ess. Nat. Exper., 6. The former immediately answer to the least change of the Air.
1697. Dryden, Virg. Georg., I. 274. The Glebe will answer to the Sylvan Reign, Great Heats will follow, and large Crops of Grain.
1865. Dickens, Mut. Fr., i. 2. The girl instantly answered to the action in her sculling.
24. trans. To repeat the action of, correspond to.
1599. Shaks., Hen. V., IV. Prol. 8. Fire answers fire. Ibid. (1603), Meas. for M., V. i. 415. Haste still paies haste, and leasure answers leasure.
25. trans. To give back in kind, to return, render.
1576. Lambarde, Peramb. Kent (1826), 231. They bee so ready … not to aunswere, but to offer, force and violence, even to Kings and Princes.
1596. Spenser, F. Q., V. i. 24. Well did the squire perceive himselfe too weake To aunswere his defiaunce in the field.
1601. Cornwallyes, Seneca (1631), 44. Able to answere feast with feast.
1793. Holcroft, Lavater’s Physiog., xxxi. 163. To answer wit with reason is like endeavouring to hold an eel by the tail.
1827. Keble, Chr. Y., 24 S. Trin. iv. 2. Answering love for love.
† 26. trans. To return the hostile action of (a person), meet in fight, encounter. Obs.
c. 1400. Destr. Troy, XX. 8274. Or hit auntrid hym to aunsware Ector agayne.
1468. J. Paston, in Lett., 585, II. 317. My Lord the Bastard, took upon hym to answere xxiiij. knyts and gentylmen … at jostys of pese.
1586. J. Hooker, Girald. Irel., in Holinsh., II. 155/1. His Gallowglasses were good men to incounter with Gallowglasses, and not to answer old souldiers.
27. intr. To correspond in number, shape, size, position, appearance, fitness, or other characteristics. Const. to (against, with, obs.).
c. 1230. Ancr. R., 94. Euerichones mede þer scal onswerien aȝein þe swinc … þet heo her uor his luue edmodliche þolieð.
c. 1391. Chaucer, Astrol., II. § 10. 22. Whiche bordure is answering to the degrees of the equinoxial.
1471. Ripley, Comp. Alch., I. (in Ashm. 1652), 130. Every Burgeon answereth to his owne Seed.
1563. J. Shute, Archit., D iij b. The Proiecture of Them doth answer iustly with the thicknes of the pillor.
1611. Bible, Gal. iv. 25. This Agar … answereth to Ierusalem, which now is.
1794. Paley, Nat. Theol., xi. § 1 (1819), 169. The right arm answers accurately to the left both in size and shape.
1878. Bosw. Smith, Carthage, 420. It answers to the description of Strabo.
† 28. trans. To correspond with (as in prec.), come up to. Obs. or arch.
1577. Hanmer, Anc. Eccl. Hist. (1619), 133. So many … as now the number of all sorts cannot answer.
1671. Milton, Samson, 1090. If thy appearance answer loud report.
1690. Locke, Hum. Und., III. v. (1690), 241. The Terms of our Law … will hardly find Words that answer them in the Spanish, or Italian.
1775. Sheridan, Duenna, II. ii. I wish she had answered her picture as well.
1789. Smyth, trans. Aldrich’s Archit. (1818), 146. Opposite to these … the rooms for the wine presses answered the baths.
† 29. causal. To cause to correspond or agree to.
1713. Swift, Caden. & Van., Wks. 1755, III. II. 18. He could not answer to his fame The triumphs of that stubborn dame.
