Meaning of reply In English

• 0 to answer:

  • [ + speech ] "Where are you going?" I asked. "Home," he replied.

  • [ + that ] I replied that it was twelve o'clock.

  • I try to reply to letters the day I receive them.

  • She replied to the threats by going to the police.

  • France took an early lead before Spain replied with three goals in 14 minutes.

• 1 an answer:

  • I asked why, but he made/gave no reply.

  • There were very few replies to our advertisement.

  • In reply to their questions, she just shrugged.

• 2 to answer a question:

  • [ I ] She asked him how old he was but he didn’t reply.

  • [ + that clause ] He replied that he wasn’t interested.

• 3 to give a spoken or written answer:

  • 'Your comments have been noted,' he replied.

  • reply to sb/sth He did not reply to a message left for him.

  • 36 applicants replied to our advert.

  • reply that 55% of respondents replied that they are confident in their companies' leaders.

• 4 to react to something that someone has done:

  • The voters replied by voting 80% in favour.

  • reply with sth After criticism for being slow to respond to changes in the market, the company replied with a major restructuring.

• 5 a spoken or written answer:

  • get/have/receive a reply We had more than 100 replies.

  • a reply to sb/sth We received no reply to our query.

  • await a reply The letter, dated December 17, awaits a reply.

  • You will receive a written reply once your complaint has been looked into.

• 6 as an answer or reaction to something:

  • He didn't really say anything in reply.

  • In reply to a question about piracy, he said that there was over 90% piracy of software.

• 7 used to begin a formal letter that is answering another letter:

  • In reply to your letter of October 7th, I would like to offer you compensation of €100.