RESPONSE

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does response mean? 

• RESPONSE (noun)
  The noun RESPONSE has 7 senses:

1. a result

2. a bodily process occurring due to the effect of some antecedent stimulus or agent

3. a statement (either spoken or written) that is made to reply to a question or request or criticism or accusation

4. the manner in which something is greeted

5. a phrase recited or sung by the congregation following a versicle by the priest or minister

6. the speech act of continuing a conversational exchange

7. the manner in which an electrical or mechanical device responds to an input signal or a range of input signals

  Familiarity information: RESPONSE used as a noun is common.

 Dictionary entry details 

• RESPONSE (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A result

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural phenomena

Context example:

this situation developed in response to events in Africa

Hypernyms ("response" is a kind of...):

consequence; effect; event; issue; outcome; result; upshot (a phenomenon that follows and is caused by some previous phenomenon)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "response"):

reaction (a response that reveals a person's feelings or attitude)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A bodily process occurring due to the effect of some antecedent stimulus or agent

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

reaction; response

Context example:

his responses have slowed with age

Hypernyms ("response" is a kind of...):

activity; bodily function; bodily process; body process (an organic process that takes place in the body)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "response"):

rebound (a reaction to a crisis or setback or frustration)

transfusion reaction (reaction of the body to a transfusion of blood that is not compatible with its own blood; an adverse reaction can range from fever and hives to renal failure and shock and death)

answer (a nonverbal reaction)

passage; passing (a bodily reaction of changing from one place or stage to another)

learned reaction; learned response (a reaction that has been acquired by learning)

inborn reflex; innate reflex; instinctive reflex; physiological reaction; reflex; reflex action; reflex response; unconditioned reflex (an automatic instinctive unlearned reaction to a stimulus)

double take (a delayed reaction indicating surprise)

kinesis (a movement that is a response to a stimulus but is not oriented with respect to the source of stimulation)

taxis (a locomotor response toward or away from an external stimulus by a motile (and usually simple) organism)

tropism (an involuntary orienting response; positive or negative reaction to a stimulus source)

immune reaction; immune response; immunologic response (a bodily defense reaction that recognizes an invading substance (an antigen: such as a virus or fungus or bacteria or transplanted organ) and produces antibodies specific against that antigen)

electrical skin response; electrodermal response; Fere phenomenon; galvanic skin response; GSR; psychogalvanic response; Tarchanoff phenomenon (a change in the electrical properties of the skin in response to stress or anxiety; can be measured either by recording the electrical resistance of the skin or by recording weak currents generated by the body)

overreaction (an excessive reaction; a reaction with inappropriate emotional behavior)

automatism (any reaction that occurs automatically without conscious thought or reflection (especially the undirected behavior seen in psychomotor epilepsy))

Sense 3

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:

answer; reply; response

Context example:

he wrote replies to several of his critics

Hypernyms ("response" 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 "response"):

rescript (a reply by a Pope to an inquiry concerning a point of law or morality)

feedback (response to an inquiry or experiment)

Derivation:

responsive (containing or using responses; alternating)

Sense 4

Meaning:

The manner in which something is greeted

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Synonyms:

reception; response

Context example:

she did not expect the cold reception she received from her superiors

Hypernyms ("response" is a kind of...):

greeting; salutation ((usually plural) an acknowledgment or expression of good will (especially on meeting))

Sense 5

Meaning:

A phrase recited or sung by the congregation following a versicle by the priest or minister

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Hypernyms ("response" is a kind of...):

phrase (an expression consisting of one or more words forming a grammatical constituent of a sentence)

Sense 6

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 ("response" is a kind of...):

speech act (the use of language to perform some act)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "response"):

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)

Sense 7

Meaning:

The manner in which an electrical or mechanical device responds to an input signal or a range of input signals

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Hypernyms ("response" is a kind of...):

fashion; manner; mode; style; way (how something is done or how it happens)

 Context examples 

"Don't know what you're drivin' at," was the response.

(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)

Holmes’s response was a curious one.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

It is the result of vasospasm in response to cold.

(Acrocyanosis, NCI Thesaurus)

Activation by Wave-1, another member of the WASP family, also induces actin alterations in response to Rac1 signals upstream.

(Actin Branching Pathway, NCI Thesaurus/BIOCARTA)

He had shown signs of consciousness, and she had spoken to him, eliciting no response.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

"You ask her," was the convulsed response.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

These proteins plays an important role in the mediation of immune response.

(MHC Class II Protein, NCI Thesaurus)

You are eliciting a great response, I can see—the eclipse is making this so.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

A response indicating that an individual has been about as socially active as before.

(About As Socially Active As Before, NCI Thesaurus)

This gene plays a role in transcriptional regulation, muscle development and transcriptional responses to stress and growth factors.

(MEF2A Gene, NCI Thesaurus)