respond Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. verb show a response or a reaction to something
    react.
  2. verb react verbally
    answer; reply.
    • She didn't want to answer
    • answer the question
    • We answered that we would accept the invitation
  3. verb respond favorably or as hoped
    • The cancer responded to the aggressive therapy

WordNet

Re*spond" intransitive verb
Etymology
OF. respondre, F. répondre, fr. L. respondere, responsum; pref. re- re- + spondere to promise. See Sponsor.
Wordforms
imperfect & past participle Responded; present participle & verbal noun Responding
Definitions
  1. To say somethin in return; to answer; to reply; as, to respond to a question or an argument.
  2. To show some effect in return to a force; to act in response; to accord; to correspond; to suit.
    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. Buckminster.
    To every theme responds thy various lay. Broome.
  3. To render satisfaction; to be answerable; as, the defendant is held to respond in damages. U.S. Syn. -- To answer; reply; rejoin. See Reply.
Re*spond" transitive verb
Definitions
  1. To answer; to reply.
  2. To suit or accord with; to correspond to. R.
    For his great deeds respond his speeches great. Fairfax.
Re*spond" noun
Definitions
  1. An answer; a response. R.
  2. (Eccl.) A short anthem sung at intervals during the reading of a chapter.
  3. (Arch.) A half pier or pillar attached to a wall to support an arch. Oxf. Gloss.

Webster 1913