answer back

See also: answerback

English

Pronunciation

• Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

Verb

answer back (third-person singular simple present answers back, present participle answering back, simple past and past participle answered back)

1. (transitive, intransitive) To reply impertinently to (someone); to talk back.

   I'll thank you not to answer back like that! Where are your manners?

   She answered him back rudely.

2. To reply to a question from (someone) at a later time.

   Please answer me back before the end of the week.

3. (computing) To issue echo characters, protocol responses, reflexive connection requests, etc.

Usage notes

• In all senses the object (if mentioned) may appear before or after the particle. If the object is a pronoun, then it must be before the particle.

Translations

to reply impertinently; to talk back

• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 駁嘴／驳嘴 (bok³ zeoi²)

  Mandarin: 頂嘴／顶嘴 (zh) (dǐngzuǐ)

• Czech: odmlouvat
• French: répondre (fr)
• Italian: ribattere (it)
• Maori: whakatoi, whakatoitoi
• Portuguese: responder (pt)
• Turkish: karşılık vermek (tr), (yanıt) geri dönmek (tr)

See also

• answerback

Anagrams

• back answer