noun
Common
answering
AHN-suh-rihng
Answering (noun) means the act of giving a reply. Example: “Answering the phone politely is an important part of the job.”
noun
1
The act of giving a reply.
"Answering the phone politely is an important part of the job."
"Her quick answering of emails impressed everyone in the office."
"An answer that comes out of the whirlwind is, logically, no answer at all: it belongs to a world above that of logical answerings."
— John Cann Bailey, The Continuity of Letters (1923)
"His answering of every question felt rehearsed."
How to use answering
Learner’s notesIn plain EnglishThe act of replying to something.
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Word forms
- Plural
- answerings
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_____ the phone politely is an important part of the job.
Etymology
From Middle English answerynge, built from answer plus -ing.
Synonyms
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Rhymes for answering
peering
tapering
lowering
covering
offering
entering
altering
cheering
steering
uttering
ordering
towering
See all rhymes for answering →
Frequently asked questions
What does “answering” mean?
The word “answering” means the act of giving a reply. In plain terms, the act of replying to something.
How do you pronounce “answering”?
“Answering” is pronounced AHN-suh-rihng (/ˈæn.sɚ.ɪŋ/ in IPA).
How do you use “answering” in a sentence?
Here is “answering” used in a sentence: “His answering of every question felt rehearsed.”
What part of speech is “answering”?
“Answering” is a noun.
Where does the word “answering” come from?
The word “answering” comes from Middle English. From Middle English answerynge, built from answer plus -ing.
Is “answering” a common word?
“Answering” is a fairly common word in modern English.
What is the difference between answering and replying?
Answering is the act of giving a reply to a question, a call, or a request, and it also covers physical responses such as answering the door. Replying focuses on responding to a message or to something said, particularly in writing — you reply to an email or a letter. In everyday use they overlap, but only answer works in fixed pairings like answering the phone.
What is an answering machine?
An answering machine is a device that takes over the job of answering a telephone: it plays a recorded greeting and records a message when nobody picks up. The word answering there is the noun sense, 'the act of giving a reply,' used attributively. An answering service is the human equivalent — a business that answers calls on a company's behalf.
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