Answer vs Return - What's the difference?
answer | return |
A response or reply; something said]] or [[do, done in reaction to a statement or question.
A solution to a problem.
(legal) A document filed in response to a complaint, responding to each point raised in the complaint and raising counterpoints.
(ambitransitive) To make a reply or response to.
* Bible, 1 Kings xviii. 26
* Shakespeare
*
, title=(The Celebrity), chapter=4
, passage=“Well,” I answered , at first with uncertainty, then with inspiration, “he would do splendidly to lead your cotillon, if you think of having one.” ¶ “So you do not dance, Mr. Crocker?” ¶ I was somewhat set back by her perspicuity.}}
To speak in defence against; to reply to in defence.
(ambitransitive) To respond to a call by someone at a door or telephone, or other similar piece of equipment.
To suit a need or purpose satisfactorily.
* Alexander Ellis
* 1903 , , (The Way of All Flesh) , Ch. 41
To be accountable or responsible; to make amends.
* Shakespeare
(legal) To file a document in response to a complaint.
To correspond to; to be in harmony with; to be in agreement with.
* 1775 , (Richard Brinsley Sheridan), (The Duenna) , Act 2, Scene 2
* B. Edwards
To be opposite, or to act in opposition.
* Gilpin
To be or act in conformity, or by way of accommodation, correspondence, relation, or proportion; to conform; to correspond; to suit; usually with to .
* Jonathan Swift
* Shakespeare
* Shakespeare
* Bible, Proverbs xxvii. 19
To respond to satisfactorily; to meet successfully by way of explanation, argument, or justification; to refute.
* Bible, Matt. xxii. 46
* Milton
* Macaulay
To be or act in compliance with, in fulfillment or satisfaction of, as an order, obligation, or demand.
* Shakespeare
(obsolete) To render account to or for.
* Shakespeare
(obsolete) To atone; to be punished for.
* Shakespeare
(obsolete) To be or act as an equivalent to, or as adequate or sufficient for; to serve for; to repay.
* Bible, Eccles. x. 19
To come or go back (to a place or person).
:
*
, title=(The Celebrity), chapter=4
, passage=The Celebrity, by arts unknown, induced Mrs. Judge Short and two other ladies to call at Mohair on an afternoon when Mr. Cooke was trying a trotter on the track. The three returned wondering and charmed with Mrs. Cooke; they were sure she had had no hand in the furnishing of that atrocious house.}}
*{{quote-book, year=1963, author=(Margery Allingham), title=(The China Governess)
, chapter=19 To go back in thought, narration, or argument.
:
(obsolete) To turn back, retreat.
*, Bk.V:
*:‘I suppose here is none woll be glad to returne – and as for me,’ seyde Sir Cador, ‘I had lever dye this day that onys to turne my bak.’
(obsolete) To turn (something) round.
*, Bk.X, Ch.xiij:
*:Whan Kyng Marke harde hym sey that worde, he returned his horse and abode by hym.
To put (place) something back where it had been.
:
To give something back to its original holder or owner.
:
To take something back to a retailer for a refund.
:
To give in requital or recompense; to requite.
*Bible, 1 Kings ii.44
*:The Lord shall return thy wickedness upon thine own head.
(tennis) To bat the ball back over the net in response to a serve.
:
(card games) To play a card as a result of another player's lead.
:
(cricket) To throw a ball back to the wicket-keeper (or a fielder at that position) from somewhere in the field.
To say in reply; to respond.
:to return''' an answer; to '''return thanks
*1897 , (Henry James), (What Maisie Knew)
*:‘Ah my good friend, I do look out!’ the young man returned while Maisie helped herself afresh to bread and butter.
(computing) To relinquish control to the calling procedure.
(computing) To pass (data) back to the calling procedure.
:
(dated) To retort; to throw back.
:to return the lie
*Dryden
*:If you are a malicious reader, you return upon me, that I affect to be thought more impartial than I am.
To report, or bring back and make known.
:to return the result of an election
*Bible, Exodus xix.8
*:And all the people answered together,and Moses returned the words of the people unto the Lord.
(by extension, UK) To elect according to the official report of the election officers.
The act of returning.
*
, title=(The Celebrity), chapter=2
, passage=I had occasion […] to make a somewhat long business trip to Chicago, and on my return […] I found Farrar awaiting me in the railway station. He smiled his wonted fraction by way of greeting, […], and finally leading me to his buggy, turned and drove out of town. I was completely mystified at such an unusual proceeding.}}
A return ticket.
An item that is returned, e.g. due to a defect, or the act of returning it.
An answer.
An account, or formal report, of an action performed, of a duty discharged, of facts or statistics, etc.; especially, in the plural, a set of tabulated statistics prepared for general information.
Gain or loss from an investment.
* Jeremy Taylor
* {{quote-news, year=2012, date=April 22, author=Sam Sheringham, work=BBC Sport
, title= * {{quote-magazine, date=2013-07-06, volume=408, issue=8843, page=68, magazine=(The Economist)
, title= (taxation, finance): A report of income submitted to a government for purposes of specifying exact tax payment amounts. A tax return.
(computing) A carriage return character.
(computing) The act of relinquishing control to the calling procedure.
(computing) A return value: the data passed back from a called procedure.
A short perpendicular extension of a desk, usually slightly lower.
(American football) Catching a ball after a punt and running it back towards the opposing team.
(cricket) A throw from a fielder to the wicket-keeper or to another fielder at the wicket.
The continuation in a different direction, most often at a right angle, of a building, face of a building, or any member, such as a moulding; applied to the shorter in contradistinction to the longer.
As nouns the difference between answer and return
is that answer is a response or reply; something said]] or [[do|done in reaction to a statement or question while return is the act of returning.As verbs the difference between answer and return
is that answer is (ambitransitive) to make a reply or response to while return is to come or go back (to a place or person).answer
English
(wikipedia answer)Alternative forms
* (both obsolete)Etymology 1
From (etyl) (m), andsware, from (etyl) .Noun
(en noun)- Her answer to his proposal was a slap in the face .
- There is no simple answer to corruption.
Derived terms
() * answerless * answer on a postcard * answerphone * answer printSee also
* askEtymology 2
From (etyl) answeren, andswaren, from (etyl) .Verb
(en verb)- There was no voice, nor any that answered .
- She answers him as if she knew his mind.
- to answer a charge or accusation
- Nobody answered when I knocked on the door.
- Of course for publication in a newspaper, my palaeotype would not answer , but my glossotype would enable the author to give his Pennsylvania German in an English form and much more intelligibly.
- Theobald spoke as if watches had half-a-dozen purposes besides time-keeping, but he could hardly open his mouth without using one or other of his tags, and "answering every purpose" was one of them.
- The man must answer to his employer for the money entrusted to his care.
- Let his neck answer for it, if there is any martial law.
- I wish she had answered her picture as well.
- The use of dunder in the making of rum answers the purpose of yeast in the fermentation of flour.
- The windows answering each other, we could just discern the glowing horizon through them.
- Weapons must needs be dangerous things, if they answered the bulk of so prodigious a person.
- That the time may have all shadow and silence in it, and the place answer to convenience.
- If this but answer to my just belief, / I'll remember you.
- As in water face answereth to face, so the heart of man to man.
- No man was able to answer him a word.
- These shifts refuted, answer thine appellant.
- The reasoning was not and could not be answered .
- He answered my claim upon him.
- The servant answered the bell.
- This proud king studies day and night / To answer all the debts he owes unto you.
- I will send him to answer thee.
- And grievously hath Caesar answered it.
- Money answereth all things.
Derived terms
() * answerable * answer at * answer back * answerer * answer for * answer the call of nature * answer the helm * answer toSee also
* questionreturn
English
Verb
(en verb)citation, passage=As soon as Julia returned with a constable, Timothy, who was on the point of exhaustion, prepared to give over to him gratefully. The newcomer turned out to be a powerful youngster, fully trained and eager to help, and he stripped off his tunic at once.}}
Derived terms
(Terms derived from the verb "return") * return to formNoun
(en noun)- a return to one's question
- election returns'''; a '''return of the amount of goods produced or sold
- The fruit from many days of recreation is very little; but from these few hours we spend in prayer, the return is great.
Liverpool 0-1 West Brom, passage=Liverpool have now won only five of their 17 home league games this season. It is a poor return for a team of Liverpool's pedigree and resources but, once again, Kenny Dalglish's team were the instigators of their own downfall as chance after chance went begging.}}
The rise of smart beta, passage=Investors face a quandary. Cash offers a return' of virtually zero in many developed countries; government-bond yields may have risen in recent weeks but they are still unattractive. Equities have suffered two big bear markets since 2000 and are wobbling again. It is hardly surprising that pension funds, insurers and endowments are searching for new sources of ' return .}}
- A facade of sixty feet east and west has a return of twenty feet north and south.