replyn.
/rᵻˈplʌɪ/, U.S. /rəˈplaɪ/, /riˈplaɪ/ I. General senses.
1.
a. A verbal or written answer; (in extended use) a response in the form of a gesture, act, or expression.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > answer > [noun] > an answer, response
answerOE
response?a1400
replication1414
recorda1450
responsal?a1475
responsion?a1475
repliquec1475
responsivec1487
replyal1548
replica?1552
reply1560
avoure1596
interlocution1597
respond1600
responsum1610
returna1616
respondency1617
reasona1635
1560 J. Jewel & H. Cole True Copies Lett. sig. Eiiii The Reply of the Bishop of Sarum to the Letter aboue written.
1598 W. Shakespeare Love's Labour's Lost iv. i. 82 Thus expecting thy replie, I prophane my lippes on thy foote. View more context for this quotation
1627 Abp. G. Abbot in J. Rushworth Hist. Coll. (1659) 442 My reply was, By what then doth he coerce those Refractories?
1665 J. Glanvill Sciri Tuum: Authors Defense 75 in Scepsis Scientifica I concluded my Reply with a Brevity, that shews I am not fond of an occasion of Disputing.
1702 Clarendon's Hist. Rebellion I. i. 27 The Earl..without any reply to the particulars, declared ‘that he neither cared for his Friendship, nor fear'd his Hatred’.
1759 S. Fielding Hist. Countess of Dellwyn I. i. xiv. 149 This spirited Reply of his Lady's roused him to Anger.
1796 J. Malham (title) A word for the Bible: being a serious reply to the declarations and assertions of the speculative deists and practical atheists of modern times.
1828 W. Scott Fair Maid of Perth ix, in Chron. Canongate 2nd Ser. II. 265 The King turned..with a look of triumph, at the filial affection which his son displayed in his reply.
1842 Ld. Tennyson Lady Clara Vere de Vere in Poems (new ed.) I. 156 You sought to prove how I could love, And my disdain is my reply.
1875 W. S. Hayward Love against World 11 ‘I know what I am doing,’ was the uncourteous reply.
1915 M. Gyte Diary 30 Sept. (1999) 63 Bulgaria has mobilized and Greece has mobilized as a reply.
1945 N. Streatfeild Saplings xxxi. 131 Trying to draw Tony into the conversation and only getting monosyllabic replies.
1975 R. P. Warren Democracy & Poetry ii. 67 If some old codger objects that in this cybernetic heaven, man will lose his moral identity, the technician's reply is that man is conditioned anyway.
2000 Independent 15 Apr. ii. 3/4 Last time they advertised for an Assistant Editor at a starting salary most junior shampooists would sniff at, they got well over 2,000 replies.
b. Without article.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > answer > [noun]
swarec1175
responsec1300
answeringc1330
respoun?a1400
replicationc1405
resolutiona1500
replyal1548
replying1548
reply1577
respondence1590
interlocution1597
reanswer1599
responsure1600
answerage1642
1577 A. Golding tr. J. Calvin Serm. Epist. Ephesians vii. f. 50 We myght alledge in way of reply [Fr. pour replique], howso? where are these riches of God?
1589 G. Puttenham Arte Eng. Poesie iii. xix. 166 Symploche, or the figure of replie.
a1616 W. Shakespeare King John (1623) iii. iii. 49 If that thou couldst..Heare me without thine eares, and make reply Without a tongue. View more context for this quotation
c1620 A. Hume Of Orthogr. Britan Tongue (1870) i. vii. §8 Quherat al laughed, as if I had bene dryven from al replye.
1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost ii. 467 Thus saying rose The Monarch, and prevented all reply . View more context for this quotation
1725 W. Broome in A. Pope et al. tr. Homer Odyssey II. viii. 167 To whom with sighs Ulysses gave reply.
1751 S. Johnson Rambler No. 176. ⁋8 The animadversions of critics are commonly such as may easily provoke the sedatest writer to some..asperity of reply.
1817 P. B. Shelley Laon & Cythna v. xix. 102 At length one brought reply, that she To-morrow would appear.
1832 Ld. Tennyson Œnone in Poems (new ed.) 58 Her full and earnest eye..Kept watch, waiting decision, made reply.
1924 A. W. Small Origins Sociol. ii. 52 One wonders now that the tu quoque form of reply was not used more effectively in rejoinder to Savigny.
1960 N. Coward Diary 7 Mar. (2000) 430 I had a very sweet letter from Prince Philip, in reply to mine.
1999 L. Ramsey Ratcatcher 80 (stage direct.) James climbs a step without reply.
2. † a. A counter-answer, esp. in a formal argument; a replication; (Scots Law) an answer given by the pursuer to an exception raised by the defender. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > answer > [noun] > an answer, response > to an answer
replication1461
rejoinder?1552
reply1562
counter-answer1581
surreply1605
1562 in tr. T. de Bèze Answer Cardinall of Lorraine (title page) An other short answer made by the said de Besza the 26 day of the said moneth vnto certein articles of replie set forth by the said Cardinall.
1609 J. Skene Regiam Majestatem ii. 115 As ane exception may take away the libell: swa the persewer may fortifie his libell, be ane replie: and thereby elide, and take away the exception. And therfore the reply is called pars libelli, ane part of the libell.
1683 J. Dalrymple Decisions Lords of Council & Session I. 391 The Pursuer Repeated his Reply; and further alleadged, that one of the Baillies of Glasgow alleadged that they were his Goods, at the time of the poinding.
1702 C. Mather Magnalia Christi vii. iii. 16/2 Unto those Answers the Synod gave Replies; and unto those Replies he gave Returns.
1719 D. Waterland Vindic. Christ's Divinity Pref. sig. A ij Exchanging Papers, making Answers, Replies, and Rejoinders.
1777 Acts Sederunt Scotl. (1790) 592 Act concerning Replies.
1820 W. Scott Abbot I. i. 8 Answers, replies, duplies, triplies, quadruplies, followed thick upon each other.
b. Law. A pleading by the prosecution or plaintiff after the delivery of the defence; the final speech of the plaintiff's counsel in a trial. Also without article, esp. in right of reply. Cf. replication n. 5a.
ΘΚΠ
society > law > administration of justice > court proceedings or procedure > pleading > [noun] > final pleading
reply1751
1751 Tryal J. Cather 14/2 The Council for the Prosecution, by Way of Reply, said..they believed the Court had no Doubt of their being Guilty.
1788 Abstr. Articles Impeachment Warren Hastings (title page) Those [parts] in Italics.., are the evidence of the Defendant, adduced in the Course of the Reply.
1837 in F. A. Carrington & J. Payne Rep. Cases Nisi Prius VII. 676 The counsel for the prosecution may re-examine the witness, and after the prisoner's counsel has addressed the jury, will be entitled to the reply.
1875 Act 38 & 39 Vict. c. 77 Sched. 1. §xxiv. 55 A plaintiff shall deliver his reply, if any, within three weeks after the defence or the last of the defences shall have been delivered, unless the time shall be extended by the Court or a Judge.
1898 Criminal Evidence Act 61 & 62 Vict. c. 36 s. 3 Cases where the right of reply depends upon the question whether evidence has been called for the defence.
1919 Harvard Law Rev. 33 244 It was held that a missing allegation in the plaintiff's complaint might be supplied in the plaintiff's reply.
1961 L. F. Sturge Basic Rules Supreme Court xxiii. 62 The modern practice is to head the pleading ‘Reply and Defence to Counterclaim’ and to head each part respectively ‘Reply’ (meaning the equivalent of the common law replication) and ‘Defence to Counterclaim’.
2006 O. Kamir Framed i. 54 Relying on legal convention, this viewer now expects to be presented with the prosecution's reply.
3. Supply. rare. Now English regional (northern).
ΘΚΠ
the mind > possession > supply > [noun] > that which is supplied > a supply
purveyance1340
substance?c1425
providencec1450
provisionc1451
furnish1500
supply1567
reply?1592
purvey?1615
product1647
sorting1785
?1592 Trag. Solyman & Perseda sig. D2v Guel. Feare not for money man, ile beare the Boxe. Iulio. I haue some little replie, if neede require.
1894 R. O. Heslop Northumberland Words Reply, supply. This form is adhered to by old people who talk of ‘gettin a fresh reply of coals,’ or flour, etc.
II. Technical senses.
4. Music. In invertible counterpoint: the form or a form in which the inversion is shown, as opposed to the principal or original form. Also: the answer to the subject in a fugue; cf. answer n. 9b, response n. 3. Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > music > piece of music > type of piece > piece in specific form > [noun] > fugue > answer
reply1597
answer1737
response1765
comes1838
repercussion1872
risposta1876
1597 T. Morley Plaine & Easie Introd. Musicke 105 When the principall (that is the thing as it is firste made) and the replie (that is it which the principall hauing the partes changed dooth make) are sung, changing the partes in such maner, as the highest part may be made the lowest.
1631 E. Bevin Briefe & Short Instr. Art of Musicke 20 In the Reply the Treble is set eight notes lower and made the Counter, and the Base is set twelve notes higher and made the Treble.
1678 C. Simpson Compend. Pract. Musick (new ed.) v. 139 When you change the Parts, making that the Treble which before was the Bass (which is called the Reply) those 5ths. will be changed into 4ths.
1782 C. Burney Gen. Hist. Music II. v. 467 It is easy to discover from the Skeleton of the Ecclesiastical Modes..that this is the true origin of the fugue, and all the laws of reply.
1841 J. A. Hamilton tr. L. Cherubini Course Counterpoint & Fugue (ed. 2) I. xix. 186 That the reply may be inverse, the bass of the theme must be placed in the soprano part in the reply, and the soprano part placed in the bass.
1876 J. Stainer & W. A. Barrett Dict. Musical Terms 366/1 Principal, the subject of a fugue, the answer being termed the Reply.
2007 D. Collins in E. Bevin Briefe Instr. Art of Musicke i. 50 Invertible counterpoint at the twelfth is used in the second and third replies.
5. Radar. More fully reply pulse. A signal sent by a transponder in response to interrogation.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > telecommunication > radio communications > [noun] > other methods or operations > radar > signals or pulses
reply1945
interrogation1946
squitter1958
monopulse1959
1945 Army & Navy Jrnl. (U.S.) 18 Aug. 1534/4 Transponder, the unit in the IFF system which receives the challenge and automatically transmits the reply.
1945 R. Watson-Watt in Nature 15 Sept. 319/2 The primary radio pulses ‘interrogating’ the mobile craft automatically release from it a series of reinforced, coded, and conveniently frequency-displaced reply pulses.
1963 R. S. H. Boulding Princ. & Pract. Radar (ed. 7) xxii. 471 Measurement of the time from the commencement of the interrogating pulse to the receipt of the beginning of the reply pulse enables the distance between the aircraft and the beacon to be determined.
2007 D. J. Clausing Aviator's Guide Navigation (ed. 4) iii. 44 The ground unit has to respond to each interrogation with a reply pulse.
6. Computing. Data sent from a program or computer, esp. a web server, in response to a request.
ΚΠ
1970 E. Harslem & J. Heafner Request for Comments (Network Working Group) (Electronic text) No. 39. 1 The first command requests the remote NCP to supply the status of all connections to the user specified by the user number in <My socket>. The second is the reply; <Text> contains the connection status information.
1995 Data Communic. Internat. Sept. 89/2 Once an RPC client makes a request, it must wait for a reply.
2002 C. Musciano & B. Kennedy HTML & XHTML (ed. 5) ix. 312 The server sends the reply to the browser client, which then presents it to the user.
2007 Irish Times (Nexis) 29 June (Finance section) 8 Customers..were visiting websites on their browser and then having the replies from those websites intercepted en route by servers at Redmoon.
Compounds
C1. General attributive and appositive as reply form, reply postcard, reply signal, etc.
ΚΠ
1856 Manch. Guardian 4 Dec. 4/2 The reason for his suspension was that he had charged 4s. in one case; 2s. for the message, and the same sum for the reply message.
1884 Graphic 30 Aug. 219/3 Reply Postcards can now be sent to Egypt.
1897 ‘P. Warung’ Tales Old Regime 101 The reply-signal came up the shaft.
1932 Math. Gaz. 16 64 A reply form is enclosed in each copy of the Gazette.
1948 Post Office Guide 283 A reply voucher issued with a phototelegram may be used to prepay an ordinary telegram.
1980 R. Harris in M. Darby Entertaining with Stars 7 Most stationers sell invitation cards, often with tear-off reply cards, but you or your child can easily make your own.
2001 Independent 1 Mar. (Thursday Review section) 2/7 I suggest..that he simply seals up the empty pre-paid reply envelopes in his unwanted mailshots and sends them back whence they came.
C2.
reply coupon n. a coupon which can be enclosed in a letter to an addressee in another country, and is redeemable for the local postage stamps needed for a reply; also more fully international reply coupon.
ΚΠ
1923 Times 23 May 5/2 A still more welcome boon to the public is the new reply coupon..a little postal order to bearer exchangeable in any country for a postage stamp of the value of 25 centimes.
1964 Jrnl. Asian Stud. 23 338/2 Manuscripts should be sent..with a return envelope, and international reply coupons.
2007 S. B. Mettee et al. Amer. Directory Writer's Guidelines 634/2 Reply Coupons cost you a lot, but you can buy U.S. postage by sending a postal money order.
reply-paid adj. (a) (of an envelope, card, etc., intended for a reply) preprinted to show that the postage is already paid; (b) (of a telegram) having the cost of a reply prepaid by the sender (now historical).
ΚΠ
1874 Stamp-collector's Mag. 12 27/2 The frame of the reply-paid card shows a pattern formed of a plait on coloured ground.
1890 Daily News 26 Feb. 2/1 The value of a reply-paid voucher will only be refunded to the sender of the original telegram.
1928 E. Wallace Double xviii. 272 It was evidently, from the indicator, a reply-paid message.
1993 Which? Aug. 26/2 None of the catalogues we looked at asked you to pay to return goods—they either supply a reply-paid slip or they'll pick up the goods.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2009; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
replyv.
/rᵻˈplʌɪ/, U.S. /rəˈplaɪ/, /riˈplaɪ/ 1. transitive. To repeat, reiterate; to reproduce in speech, sound, or writing. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > hearing and noise > thing heard > make sound [verb (transitive)] > sound again > repeat sound
replya1382
a1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 370) (1850) 2 Chron. xxxv. 25 Alle the syngers and syngeresses in to the present day lamentaciouns vpon Jozie replyen [a1425 L.V. rehersen; L. replicant].
?c1425 tr. Guy de Chauliac Grande Chirurgie (Paris) (1971) 8 In þe Book of Almansorum..he putte his special þinges; In..Elhaui..þe same þinges he replied [?a1425 N.Y. Acad. Med. replecated; v.r. repliede; L. replicauit].
?a1450 in C. von Nolcken Middle Eng. Transl. Rosarium Theol. (1979) 72 (MED) He haþ noþing in heuen bot after þe quantite of his..werkez here..as ofte tyme replieþ holi writte.
1576 G. Gascoigne Complaynt of Phylomene in Steele Glas sig. Pv Euen so this byrde vppon that name, Hir foremost note replies.
1611 D. Murray Tragicall Death Sophonisba sig. B7v Sing thou the treble to her mournfull songs, Reply her sad notes with thy dying grones.
II. To respond.
2. Chiefly poetic.
a. intransitive. To return a sound as an echo; to appear to respond by echoing. Frequently with to.In early quots. sometimes merely a contextual use of sense 3b.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > hearing and noise > degree, kind, or quality of sound > resonance or sonority > resound [verb (intransitive)] > reverberate or echo
aqueathOE
again-sounda1382
replya1393
answera1425
rolla1522
rebellow1590
re-echo1590
redouble1595
surrebound?1611
speaka1616
rethunder1716
reverb1796
a1393 J. Gower Confessio Amantis (Fairf.) v. 4644 (MED) What man that in the wodes crieth, Withoute faile Eccho replieth.
1594 W. Shakespeare Titus Andronicus ii. iii. 18 Whilst the babling eccho mocks the hounds, Replying shrillie to the well tun'd hornes.
a1689 A. Behn Lady's Looking-glass (1697) 5 See, in thy Absence, how thy Lover dies; While to his Sighs, the Eccho still replies.
1713 R. Blackmore Alfred viii. 273 To their Shrieks the echoing Hills reply.
1757 S. Boyce Poems 33 Through vocal air the strains mellifluous fly, The streams re-echo, and the hills reply.
1850 Ld. Tennyson Princess (ed. 3) 70 Blow, let us hear the purple glens replying.
1878 W. S. Gilbert H.M.S. Pinafore i. 5 To his humble wail The echoing hills replied.
1904 E. Miller Yoke (1908) xiii. 174 With a shout that made the remote hills reply again and again, the convoy divided.
1930 W. Muir & E. Muir tr. E. A. Rheinhardt Life Eleonora Duse 202 Far away inside the house a cloistral echo replied.
2002 P. Reeve Mortal Engines xxviii. 292 Only echoes replied, muddled with the echoing roar of the fires in the hangar.
b. transitive. To return, echo back (words, a cry).
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > hearing and noise > degree, kind, or quality of sound > resonance or sonority > resound [verb (transitive)] > reverberate or echo
answera1425
redoublea1542
rebound1555
return1557
reply1565
report1589
re-echo1595
repercuss?a1597
render1598
reverberate1603
respeak1604
reverb1608
retort1609
reword1609
revoice1610
refract1621
to give back1889
1565 A. Golding tr. Ovid Fyrst Fower Bks. Metamorphosis iii. f. 8v Alas sweete boy beloude in vaine, farewell. And by and by With sighing sound the selfe same wordes the Echo did reply.
1650 R. Baron Fortunes Tennis Ball xviii. 5 in Pocula Castalia The airy Queen..each yell replies, As if another chase were in the skies.
1697 J. Dryden tr. Virgil Georgics iv, in tr. Virgil Wks. 145 With his last Voice, Eurydice, he cry'd, Eurydice, the Rocks and River-banks reply'd . View more context for this quotation
1705 R. Blackmore Eliza vii. 203 Long live the Queen, the joyful Britons cry, Long live the Queen, the ecchoing Spheres reply.
a1783 H. Brooke Poet. Wks. (1792) I. 432 He dies!—he dies! the echoing hills reply, And the loud triumph rends the vaulted sky.
1853 H. G. Dalton Trop. Lays & Other Poems 4 And echo replies—he is dead! he is dead!
1882 H. H. Boyesen Idylls of Norway 82 With a great voice he cried, while the echoes replied: ‘Lo, my vengeance, it cometh anon!’
2005 E. Ramsey Slumach xx. 220 ‘Bev! George!’ Paul yelled. ‘Bev, Bev..George, George..’ the mountains replied.
3.
a. intransitive. To answer or respond in speech or writing. Also with †against (obsolete), to, upon (now archaic) a person, question, or statement.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > answer > [verb (intransitive)]
andwurdec885
answerOE
respoundc1300
replyc1405
replique1477
reanswer1526
respond1639
revert1973
c1405 (c1390) G. Chaucer Melibeus (Hengwrt) (2003) §268 I biseke yow..þt ye wol nat wilfully replye [c1430 Cambr. Gg.4.27 repleye; c1415 Lansd. reprouen, v.r. repugne] ayein my resons..thogh I speke thyng þt yow displese.
1414 Petition in Rotuli Parl. (1767–77) IV. 57/1 (MED) To the whiche billes myne adversaries repleiden by mouthe.
c1430 (c1395) G. Chaucer Legend Good Women (Cambr. Gg.4.27) (1879) Prol. l. 319 Ȝe motyn herkenyn If he can replye A-geyns these poyntys that ȝe han to hym mevid.
a1513 R. Fabyan New Cronycles Eng. & Fraunce (1516) I. ccxxxvi. f. clix The Archebysshop Thomas began to replye agayn the Kynges mynde.
1560 J. Daus tr. J. Sleidane Commentaries f. xciiij The Protestantes do replie thus.
1564 T. Dorman Proufe Certeyne Articles in Relig. f. 117 Osorius..bothe can and will if he thincke it needefull to reply apon so fond an answere, defend him selfe.
1611 T. Heywood Golden Age i. sig. Cv He that next replyes, Mother or friend, by Saturnes fury dyes.
1665 G. Havers tr. P. della Valle Trav. E. India 102 His Courtiers seeing him in this mood, would not reply further to him.
1687 F. Atterbury Answer Considerations Spirit Luther 67 We should find what reason Castalio's painter had to reply upon the cardinal, who blamed him.
1734 A. Pope Epist. to Arbuthnot 363 Full ten years slander'd, did he once reply?
a1776 D. Hume My Own Life in Hist. Eng. (1778) I. p. x I had fixed a resolution, which I inflexibly maintained, never to reply to any body.
1856 Ld. Tennyson Maud (rev. ed.) xxv, in Maud & Other Poems (new ed.) 91 Or if I ask thee why, Care not thou to reply.
1879 M. Pattison Milton 76 Milton replies to these random charges by a lengthy account of himself.
1915 W. S. Maugham Of Human Bondage xcix. 524 He replied to those [advertisements] which asked for letters; but he had no experience to state and no recommendations.
a1945 E. R. Eddison Mezentian Gate (1958) xxxviii. 209 She replied upon him in a whisper scarce to be heard.
1999 R. Tremain Music & Silence (2000) ii. 353 Peter Claire is about to reply, when King Christian cuts him off.
b. intransitive. figurative.
ΚΠ
1593 T. Lodge Phillis xii. sig. C3 v The trees, the rockes, and flockes replie..We grieue since Phillis nill kinde Damons loue consort.
a1616 W. Shakespeare All's Well that ends Well (1623) ii. iii. 82 The honor sir that flames in your faire eyes, Before I speake too threatningly replies . View more context for this quotation
1785 W. Cowper Task vi. 231 There is in souls a sympathy with sounds... Some chord in unison with what we hear is touched within us, and the heart replies.
1860 J. Tyndall Glaciers of Alps i. xiii. 92 If Nature does not reply to a question we throw it into another form.
1930 R. Campbell Poems 9 Clear as a glass the day replies To every feature save her eyes.
1966 M. Atwood Sel. Poems (1987) 240 The ground replied with aphorisms: a tree-sprout, a nameless weed, words he couldn't understand.
c. intransitive. To respond by means of a gesture, act, or performance; esp. to return gunfire.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > answer > [verb (intransitive)] > with action
reply1787
society > armed hostility > military equipment > operation and use of weapons > action of propelling missile > discharge of firearms > discharge firearms [verb (intransitive)] > return fire
reply1831
1787 T. Holcroft Seduction iii. ii. 38 The Major, being one of those singular officers who think it some disgrace to be robb'd, replied by firing his pistol.
1831 W. F. Napier Hist. War Penins. III. x. iii. 154 The beseiged replied..sharply.
1842 Ld. Tennyson Audley Court in Poems (new ed.) II. 44 He sang his song, and I replied with mine.
1893 Daily News 25 July 4/6 Lancashire..scored 189 against Somersetshire, who replied with 90 for three wickets.
1914 D. Haig Diary 16 Sept. in War Diaries & Lett. 1914–18 (2005) 71 The firing was kept up for twenty minutes and seemed effective. The Enemy did not reply very effectively so I hope we warmed him up.
1963 Times 27 May 5/3 The same player scored from a 30-yard penalty, while Ramsden replied with a well lofted hit from 40 yards.
1996 D. Brimson & E. Brimson Everywhere we Go vii. 98 I'm not saying who they were, because sooner or later we'll reply in kind, but we'll have to go some to beat what they did to us.
4. transitive. To return as an answer, (in early use) esp. in disagreement or defence; to say in reply; to respond; to retort. Chiefly with clause or direct speech as object. Also (esp. in early use) with to, †against, †upon a person, question, or statement.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > answer > answer [verb (transitive)]
andwurdec885
aqueathOE
answerOE
swarec1175
respoundc1300
replyc1425
replique1477
reanswer1523
replicate1535
undersay1579
rejoin1581
resolve1586
return1597
repone1614
resounda1617
repart1631
remoot1676
reason1841
to get back to1963
the mind > attention and judgement > answer > answer [verb (transitive)] > sharply
returna1500
reply1526
snap1550
pat1575
retort1597
regyre1606
regest1614
retaliate1632
snap1647
repartee1677
riposte1823
to shoot back1974
c1425 J. Lydgate Troyyes Bk. (Augustus A.iv) v. 1746 (MED) Þer was noon in al þat companye Þat durste a word a-geyns him replye, So hool he stood in his oppinioun.
a1450 (c1412) T. Hoccleve De Regimine Principum (Harl. 4866) (1897) 1338 Þou maist ageyn me replie, To sum folk..Agayn pouert it is no remedye.
1526 W. Bonde Rosary sig. Bv Nothynge answeryng ne replyenge agayne their wronge and false accusacions.
1573 A. G. tr. B. de Mantova Benefite Christians sig. hv But I replie vppon thee, that God accepteth thee for rightuouse.
1611 Bible (King James) Tobit ii. 14 But shee replyed vpon me, It was giuen for a gift. View more context for this quotation
a1616 W. Shakespeare Henry VI, Pt. 1 (1623) iii. i. 28 Lords vouchsafe To giue me hearing what I shall reply . View more context for this quotation
1671 J. Milton Paradise Regain'd iv. 2 Perplex'd and troubl'd..The Tempter stood, nor had what to reply . View more context for this quotation
1702 Clarendon's Hist. Rebellion I. i. 15 He replyed that he could not think Well of it.
1751 E. Haywood Hist. Betsy Thoughtless I. viii. 86 ‘Ah! madam,’ replied he,..‘where the heart is deeply affected, the brain seldom produces anything but incongruous ideas.’
1828 W. Scott Fair Maid of Perth xi, in Chron. Canongate 2nd Ser. III. 293 ‘If there be any man willing to fight for honour,’ replied MacGillie Chattanach, ‘the price will be enough.’
1885 R. Jefferies Open Air 157 The man..replied nothing.
1937 H. Jennings et al. May 12th Mass-observ. Day-surv. ii. 368 Say: ‘How are the children?’ He replies: ‘They are all keeping pretty well, thank you.’
1961 Amer. Heritage Bk. Indians 333/2 The mayordomos at ranches and missions had to reply that there were only Indians available to work as vaqueros.
1992 Sat. Night (Toronto) May 24/1 ‘None of these people use tobacco. None of them use alcohol,’ he replied to the charge that his new tenants were flaky.
5. intransitive. To give a reply to an answer; (now) (Law) to answer a defendant's plea; (of the plaintiff or prosecutor) to deliver a final speech. Cf. replication n. 5, reply n. 2.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > answer > [verb (intransitive)] > in reply to charge, etc.
reply1453
surrejoin1594
rebutter1715
surrebut1726
society > law > administration of justice > court proceedings or procedure > pleading > plead [verb (intransitive)] > answer defendant's plea
reply1453
1453 Duke of Norfolk's Petition in Paston Lett. (1904) II. 290 To that that he hath aunsuerd, y have replyed.
a1475 (?a1430) J. Lydgate tr. G. Deguileville Pilgrimage Life Man (Vitell.) 16465 (MED) I shall answere vn-to hyre in my dyffense..And yiff that Tribulacion replye ageyns me..I shal boldly answere ageyn.
1562 N. Winȝet Certain Tractates (1888) I. 2 Thre wryttingis deliuerit to the said Iohne, quhairin is replyit aganis his ansueris maid to ane part of the said thre questionis.
1656 in J. A. Clyde Hope's Major Practicks (1937) I. 224 The defenders..haveing repleyed upon ane inhibition..the lords fand it not sufficient.
1768 W. Blackstone Comm. Laws Eng. III. xx. 309 The plaintiff may plead again, and reply to the defendant's plea.
1802 C. James New Mil. Dict. (at cited word) After the prisoner's defence before a court-martial the prosecutor..may reply.
1849 Ld. Campbell Lives Chief Justices II. xxxiv. 401 Lord Mansfield hesitated long about making the right to reply depend upon the giving of evidence by the defendant.
1923 W. G. Russell Treat. Crimes (ed. 8) II. 1835 If the defendant is undefended there is no right to sum up or reply if he calls no witnesses, whether he himself does or does not give evidence: but there is a right to reply if he calls a witness.
1969 Ann. Surb. Afr. Law 3 157 After the accused or his counsel had summed up his case and commented in reply, counsel for the prosecution was entitled to reply upon the whole case.
2003 L. M. Olivo & M. A. Kelly Civil Litigation (rev. ed.) xii. 241 If the plaintiff replies to the statement of defence in the main action, the third party claim may be issued within 10 days of the plaintiff's delivering his or her reply.
III. To turn back, and related senses.† 6.
a. transitive. To take back, retract. Obsolete. rare.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > will > decision > irresolution or vacillation > reversal of or forsaking one's will or purpose > reverse or abandon one's purpose or intention [verb (transitive)] > recant or retract
to call againc1390
repealc1390
revokec1390
replyc1425
renounce1446
renayc1450
unsay1483
manswear1502
to let loose1530
to call back1533
recant1534
retract1538
unswear1591
unwish1591
swallow1597
to take back1599
retractate1600
reclaim1615
unspeak1615
recede1655
renege1679
unnotify1738
unpronounce1745
withdraw1793
palinode1892
c1425 J. Lydgate Troyyes Bk. (Augustus A.iv) v. l. 483 (MED) [Antenor] myn exile conspired..Whiche may nat be replied [a1475 Arun. 99 repellid] nor withdrawe.
1532 (c1385) Usk's Test. Loue in Wks. G. Chaucer i. f. cccxxxii They knowynge me sayng but sothe, arne nowe tempted to reply her olde praysynges.
b. transitive. To send back or away; to reject, repulse. Obsolete. rare.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > language > statement > refusal > [verb (transitive)] > reject or cast off a person
refusec1390
wavescha1400
denyc1400
rejectc1450
replya1500
repudiate1534
to fling off1587
reprobate1747
veto1839
to tie a can to (or on)1926
to give (a person) the elbow1938
wipe1941
a1500 ( J. Walton tr. Boethius De Consol. Philos. (Durh.) Prol. 8 (MED) Replied [c1450 Linc. Thys message he repeled vtterlye, And made a uow it schulde not stonde so].
1543 ( Chron. J. Hardyng (1812) 46 The quene Gwendolyne..Whome kyng Locryne forsoke and replyed, And Estrylde weddid againe.
7. transitive. To fold or bend back or again; to double. poetic and rare after 16th cent.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > relative position > folding or folded condition > fold [verb (transitive)] > back
replyc1425
replicate1649
to turn back1683
retroflex1954
c1425 tr. J. Arderne Treat. Fistula (Sloane 6) (1910) 8 (MED) Þe first instrument..ow to be smal, þat it may liȝtly be plied & replied [L. plicari et replicari].
a1475 Bk. Curtasye (Sloane 1986) l. 661 in Babees Bk. (2002) i. 321 Þo ouer nape schalle dowbulle be layde..Þo ouer seluage he schalle replye.
1574 [implied in: W. Bourne Regim. for Sea (1577) xxiii. 62 b An instrument shewing you howe many myles of Longitude will answere vnto a degree..by the replying of a threed. (at replying n.)].
1935 W. Empson Poems 11 Re-plyed, extorted, oft transposed, and fleeting, Tune from plucked cotton, the cat's cradle pattern Dances round fingers.
Derivatives
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > answer > [noun] > person answering
replierc1454
respondent1528
answerer1551
repliant1594
replicant1626
responser1791
responder1825
replyist1852
1852 Notes & Queries 13 Mar. 257 A replyist refers to a work in which is an autobiography.
1892 Eng. Mechanic & World of Sci. 55 270/2 The replyist says that carbon black is permanent.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2009; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1560v.a1382