| English Dictionary |
REPLY (replied)
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
| IPA (US): |  |
Dictionary entry overview: What does reply mean?
• REPLY (noun)
The noun REPLY has 2 senses:
1. a statement (either spoken or written) that is made to reply to a question or request or criticism or accusation
2. the speech act of continuing a conversational exchange
Familiarity information: REPLY used as a noun is rare.
• REPLY (verb)
The verb REPLY has 1 sense:
1. react verbally
Familiarity information: REPLY used as a verb is very rare.
Dictionary entry details
Sense 1
Meaning:
A statement (either spoken or written) that is made to reply to a question or request or criticism or accusation
Classified under:
Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents
Synonyms:
Context example:
he wrote replies to several of his critics
Hypernyms ("reply" is a kind of...):
statement (a message that is stated or declared; a communication (oral or written) setting forth particulars or facts etc)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "reply"):
rescript (a reply by a Pope to an inquiry concerning a point of law or morality)
feedback (response to an inquiry or experiment)
Derivation:
reply (react verbally)
Sense 2
Meaning:
The speech act of continuing a conversational exchange
Classified under:
Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents
Synonyms:
reply; response
Context example:
he growled his reply
Hypernyms ("reply" is a kind of...):
speech act (the use of language to perform some act)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "reply"):
counterblast (a vigorous and unrestrained response)
non sequitur (a reply that has no relevance to what preceded it)
comeback; counter; rejoinder; replication; retort; return; riposte (a quick reply to a question or remark (especially a witty or critical one))
echo (a reply that repeats what has just been said)
answer (the speech act of replying to a question)
Derivation:
reply (react verbally)
| Conjugation: |
... he / she / it replies Past simple: replied
Past participle: replied
-ing form: replying
Sense 1
Meaning:
React verbally
Classified under:
Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing
Synonyms:
Context example:
We answered that we would accept the invitation
Hypernyms (to "reply" is one way to...):
say; state; tell (express in words)
Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "reply"):
call back (return or repeat a telephone call)
counter (speak in response)
field (answer adequately or successfully)
sass (answer back in an impudent or insolent manner)
come back; rejoin; repay; retort; return; riposte (answer back)
bridle (respond to the reins, as of horses)
Sentence frames:
Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s somebody
Somebody ----s that CLAUSE
Somebody ----s to somebody
Sentence example:
They reply that there was a traffic accident
Derivation:
reply (a statement (either spoken or written) that is made to reply to a question or request or criticism or accusation)
reply (the speech act of continuing a conversational exchange)
Context examples
How much I wished to reply fully to this question!
(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)
"I got them from the Wicked Witch of the East, when my house fell on her and killed her," she replied.
(The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum)
"I have been a good deal acquainted with him," replied Mrs Smith, gravely, "but it seems worn out now. It is a great while since we met."
(Persuasion, by Jane Austen)
“The better to hear you with, my child,” was the reply.
(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)
Catherine, without hesitation, replied that she was very sure Miss Thorpe did not mean to dance at all.
(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)
The reply necessary to include/exclude a potential subject on a study.
(Defined Eligibility Criterion Required Response, NCI Thesaurus)
I do not know what you mean, replied my brother, in accents of wonder, but to us the discovery we have made completes our misery.
(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)
“The effect was so strong – as I say, it was so unexpected – that it does raise that question,” she replied.
(Vitamin A Supplement May Thwart Tuberculosis Infection, Jessica Berman/VOA)
More than two million people replied they would attend and an additional million-and-a-half expressed interest in the event.
(Millions don't turn up to 'storm' US airbase for extraterrestrial evidence, Wikinews)
"But there is life upon the plateau all the same," his colleague replied in triumph.
(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
| Learn English with... Proverbs |
"Whose end of tongue is sharp, the edge of his head must be hard" (Breton proverb)
"The bride doesn't know how to dance, she says the floor is slanted." (Armenian proverb)
"Hang a thief when he's young, and he'll no' steal when he's old." (Scottish proverb)