answer back

phrasal verb

answered back; answering back; answers back
somewhat informal
: to reply to someone especially in a rude way
impolite children who answer back when their teacher corrects them

Examples of answer back in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Throughout the town hall, Harris often brought her answers back to warnings against the former president and his fitness for office. Erin Doherty, Axios, 24 Oct. 2024 But by using the holographic dictionary to look at the particles from their other perspective, as a gently curving space-time, physicists can calculate the outcome using Einstein’s gravity equations and then translate the answer back to get a sense of how the nuclei would smash together. Charlie Wood, Quanta Magazine, 25 Sep. 2024 However, the Tigers answered back in the seventh inning to secure the win and clinch the franchise’s first playoff berth since 2014. David Close, CNN, 27 Sep. 2024 With no plan to break the country's political stalemate, the only course left for all sides is brinkmanship, with escalating Sunni demands for freedom and Baghdad answering back with intimidation. Ned Parker, Foreign Affairs, 12 Feb. 2012 See all Example Sentences for answer back 

Dictionary Entries Near answer back

Cite this Entry

“Answer back.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/answer%20back. Accessed 22 Nov. 2024.

More from Merriam-Webster on answer back

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!