respond

Universal Words verb 1 ~ (to sb/sth) (with sth) (rather formal) to give a spoken or written answer to sb/sth SYNREPLY: [V] I asked him his name, but he didn't respond. * She never responded to my letter. * More than fifty people responded to the advertisement. * [Vspeech] 'I'm not sure,' she responded. * [Vthat] When asked about the company's future, the director responded that he remained optimistic. -< ANSWER 2 [V] ~ (to sth) (with sth / by doing sth) to do sth as a reaction to sth that sb has said or done SYNREACT: How did they respond to the news? * The government responded by banning all future demonstrations. 3 [V] ~ (to sth/sb) to react quickly or in the correct way to sth/sb: The car responds very well to the controls. * You can rely on him to respond to a challenge. 4 [V] ~ (to sth) to improve as a result of a particular kind of treatment: The infection did not respond to the drugs.