REPLY :  n 1: a statement (either spoken or written) that is made in reply to a question or request or criticism or accusation; "I waited several days for his answer"; "he wrote replies to several of his critics" [syn: answer, response] 2: the speech act of continuing a conversational exchange; "he growled his reply" [syn: response] v : reply or respond to; "She didn't want to answer"; "answer the question"; "We answered that we would accept the invitation" [syn: answer, respond]

ESP, acknowledge, acknowledgment, action and reaction, advocate, allege in support, answer, answer back, answering, antiphon, approach, argue for, argument, assert, automatic reaction, autonomic reaction, back answer, back talk, backchat, billet, boomerang, bounceback, business letter, champion, chit, come back, come back at, come in, comeback, commerce, communicate with, communication, communion, congress, connection, contact, contend for, conversation, converse, correspond, correspondence, counter, counterblast, counterblow, counterstatement, counterstroke, dealing, dealings, defend, defense, demurrer, denial, dispatch, echo, epistle, espouse, establish connection, evasive reply, exception, exchange, favor, flash back, get to, give acknowledgment, give answer, give-and-take, information, interaction, interchange, intercommunication, intercommunion, intercourse, interplay, interrogate, letter, line, linguistic intercourse, maintain, maintain connection, make a plea, make advances, make contact with, make overtures, make up to, message, missive, note, objection, plea, plead for, pleading, predictable response, question, raise, reach, react, reaction, ready reply, rebut, rebuttal, receipt, reciprocation, recoil, reecho, reflection, reflex, reflex action, refluence, reflux, refutation, refute, rejoin, rejoinder, relate to, repartee, replication, reply to, repost, rescript, rescription, respond, respond to, respondence, response, responsion, responsory, retaliation, retort, retroaction, return, return answer, return for answer, reverberate, reverberation, revulsion, riposte, rise, say, say in defense, say in reply, shoot back, short answer, snap back, snappy comeback, social intercourse, speak for, speak up for, speaking, special demurrer, special pleading, speech, speech circuit, speech situation, stand up for, statement of defense, stick up for, support, sustain, take the bait, talk back, talking, telepathy, touch, traffic, truck, two-way communication, unthinking response, uphold, urge reasons for, witty reply, witty retort, yes-and-no answer,

REPLY : \Re*ply"\ (r?-pl?"), v. i. [imp. & p. p. Replied (-pl?d"); p. pr. & vb. n. Replying.] [OE. replien, OF. replier, F. r['e]pliquer, fr. L. replicare to fold back, make a reply; pref. re- re- + plicare to fold. See Ply, and cf. Replica.] 1. To make a return in words or writing; to respond; to answer. O man, who art thou that repliest against God? --Rom. ix. 20. 2. (Law) To answer a defendant's plea. 3. Figuratively, to do something in return for something done; as, to reply to a signal; to reply to the fire of a battery. Syn: To answer; respond; rejoin.

REPLY : \Re*ply"\, v. t. To return for an answer. --Milton. Lords, vouchsafe To give me hearing what I shall reply. --Shak.

REPLY : \Re*ply"\, n.; pl. Replies (-pl?z"). [See Reply, v. i., and cf. Replica.] That which is said, written, or done in answer to what is said, written, or done by another; an answer; a response. Syn: Answer; rejoinder; response. Usage: 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.''

REPLY :  See followup.

REPLY : n. See followup.