Emily Dickinson Lexicon

AN'SWER, v.i.

1. To reply; to speak by way of return; as, there is none to answer. – 1 Kings xviii.
2. To be accountable, liable or responsible; followed by to before the person, and for before the thing for which one is liable; as, the man must answer to his employer for the money entrusted to his care; we can not answer to God for our offenses.
3. To vindicate, or give a justificatory account of; followed by for; as, a man can not answer for his friend.
4. To correspond with; to suit with; followed by to. In water face answereth to face, so the heart of man to man. – Prov. xxvi.
5. To act reciprocally, as the strings of an instrument to the hand. – Dryden.
6. To stand as opposite or correlative; as, allegiance in the subject answers to protection on the part of the prince or government.
7. To return, as sound reverberated; to echo. The noise seems to fly away, and answer at a great distance. – Encyc. Art. Echo.
8. To succeed; to effect the object intended; to have a good effect; as, gypsum answers as a manure on a dry soil.