Respond

• POS: Noun, Verb (usu participle), Verb (intransitive)
• HYPHEN: re=spond

CIDE DICTIONARY

Respond, v. i. [OF. respondre, F. répondre, fr. L. respondere, responsum; pref. re- re- + spondere to promise. See Sponsor.].

•  To say somethin in return; to answer; to reply; as, to respond to a question or an argument.  [1913 Webster]
•  To show some effect in return to a force; to act in response; to accord; to correspond; to suit.  [1913 Webster]

  "A new affliction strings a new cord in the heart, which responds to some new note of complaint within the wide scale of human woe."  [1913 Webster]

  "To every theme responds thy various lay."  [1913 Webster]
•  To render satisfaction; to be answerable; as, the defendant is held to respond in damages.  [1913 Webster]

Syn. -- To answer; reply; rejoin. See Reply.

Respond, v. t. 

•  To answer; to reply.  [1913 Webster]
•  To suit or accord with; to correspond to.  [1913 Webster]

  "For his great deeds respond his speeches great."  [1913 Webster]

Respond, n. 

•  An answer; a response.  [1913 Webster]
•  A short anthem sung at intervals during the reading of a chapter.  [1913 Webster]
•  A half pier or pillar attached to a wall to support an arch.  Oxf. Gloss.  [1913 Webster]

OXFORD DICTIONARY

Respond, v. & n.
--v.
1 intr. answer, give a reply.
2 intr. act or behave in an answering or corresponding manner.
3 intr. (usu. foll. by to) show sensitiveness to by behaviour or change (does not respond to kindness).
4 intr. (of a congregation) make answers to a priest etc.
5 intr. Bridge make a bid on the basis of a partner's preceding bid.
6 tr. say (something) in answer.
--n.
1 Archit. a half-pillar or half-pier attached to a wall to support an arch, esp. at the end of an arcade.
2 Eccl. a responsory; a response to a versicle.

Derivative

respondence n. respondency n. responder n.

Etymology

ME f. OF respondre answer ult. f. L respondere respons- answer (as RE-, spondere pledge)

DEVIL DICTIONARY

Respond

v.i. To make answer, or disclose otherwise a consciousness of having inspired an interest in what Herbert Spencer calls "external coexistences," as Satan "squat like a toad" at the ear of Eve, responded to the touch of the angel's spear. To respond in damages is to contribute to the maintenance of the plaintiff's attorney and, incidentally, to the gratification of the plaintiff.

THESAURUS

Respond

acknowledge, act, advocate, allege in support, alternate, answer, answer back, antiphon, apprehend, argue for, assert, bandy, be affected, be aware of, be conscious of, be in tune, be inspired, be involved, be moved, be quits with, be sensible of, behave, care about, catch the flame, catch the infection, champion, change, change color, color with emotion, come back, come back at, come in, commute, compensate, contend for, cooperate, counter, counterchange, defend, dig, echo, empathize with, espouse, exchange, experience, feel, feel for, flash back, get back at, get even with, give acknowledgment, give and take, give answer, hear, identify with, interchange, logroll, maintain, make a plea, pay back, perceive, permute, pity, plead for, react, rebut, reciprocate, reecho, refute, rejoin, rejoinder, relate to emotionally, reply, requite, respond to, respond to stimuli, response, retaliate, retort, return, return answer, return for answer, return the compliment, reverberate, riposte, say, say in defense, say in reply, see, sense, share, shoot back, smell, snap back, speak for, speak up for, stand up for, stick up for, support, sustain, swap, switch, sympathize with, take the bait, talk back, taste, touch, trade, transpose, uphold, urge reasons for

ROGET THESAURUS

Respond

Agreement

VB be accordant, agree, accord, harmonize, correspond, tally, respond, meet, suit, fit, befit, do, adapt itself to, fall in with, chime in with, square with, quadrate with, consort with, comport with, dovetail, assimilate, fit like a glove, fit to a tittle, fit to a T, match, become one, homologate, consent, render accordant, fit, suit, adapt, accommodate, graduate, adjust, dress, regulate, readjust, accord, harmonize, reconcile, fadge, dovetail, square.

Feeling

VB feel, receive an impression, be impressed with, entertain feeling, harbor feeling, cherish feeling, respond, catch the flame, catch the infection, enter the spirit of, bear, suffer, support, sustain, endure, thole, aby, abide, experience, taste, prove, labor under, smart under, bear the brunt of, brave, stand, swell, glow, warm, flush, blush, change color, mantle, turn color, turn pale, turn red, turn black in the face, tingle, thrill, heave, pant, throb, palpitate, go pitapat, tremble, quiver, flutter, twitter, shake, be agitated, be excited, look blue, look black, wince, draw a deep breath, impress.

Answer

VB answer, respond, reply, rebut, retort, rejoin, give for answer, return for answer, acknowledge, echo, explain, solve, discover, fathom, hunt out, satisfy, set at rest, determine.