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
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 
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.
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 28 Nov. 2024.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share