verb
reply
rih-PLEYE
verb
1
To give a spoken or written answer to a question, message, or accusation.
"She replied to my email within the hour."
"He didn't know how to reply to such a strange question."
noun
1
The answer given in response to something.
"His reply was short but clear."
How to Use Reply
Learner’s notesIn plain EnglishTo answer, or the answer itself.
When to use it
"Reply" is slightly more formal than the everyday "answer back" but is standard in both speech and writing.
Common pairings
reply to a message
quick reply
await a reply
Word Forms
replied past tense, replies plural, replies singular
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He didn't know how to _____ to such a strange question.
Etymology
From Old French replier, from Latin replicare ("to fold back"), which in medieval usage came to mean "to answer" — the same root as "replicate" and "replica."