3 entries under this word
[imp. & p. p. REPLIED; p. pr. & vb. n. REPLYING.] [Fr. répliquer, to answer, replier, to fold again, Pr., Sp., & Pg. replicar, It. replicare, Lat. replicare, to fold back, to make a reply, from re, again, back, and plicare, to fold. Cf. PLY, APPLY, and EMPLOY.]
Sense 1. To make a return to in words or writing; to respond to; to answer.
Give me hearing what I shall reply. Shak.
Sense 2. (Law.) To answer a defendant’s plea.
Synonyms—To answer; respond; rejoin.
To return for an answer; as, he knows not what to reply.
n. [Fr. réplique, Sp. & It. replica.] That which is said or written in answer to what is said or written by another; an answer.
Synonyms—Answer; rejoinder; response.—REPLY, REJOINDER, ANSWER. A reply is a distinct response to a formal question or attack, in speech or writing. A rejoinder is a second reply (a reply to a reply) in a protracted discussion or controversy. The word answer is used in two senses, namely (1), in the most general sense of a mere response; as, the answer to a question; or (2), in the sense of a decisive and satisfactory confutation of an adversary's argument, as when we speak of a triumphant answer to the speech or accusations of an opponent. Here the noun corresponds to a frequent use of the verb, as when we say, “this will answer (i. e., fully meet) the end in view;” “it answers the purpose.”