What does "reply" mean?

Additional senses

1. 2.Figuratively, to do something in return for something done; as, to reply to a signal; to reply to the fire of a battery.
2. 3.To return for an answer. Milton. Lords, vouchsafe To give me hearing what I shall reply. Shak.
3. 4.That which is said, written, or done in answer to what is said, written, or done by another; an answer; a response. -- Reply, Rejoinder, Answer. A reply is a distinct response to a formal question or attack in speech or writing. A rejoinder is a second reply (a reply to a reply) in a protracted discussion or controversy. The word answer is used in two senses, namely (1), in the most general sense of a mere response; as, the answer to a question; or (2), in the sense of a decisive and satisfactory confutation of an adversary's argument, as when we speak of a triumphant answer to the speech or accusations of an opponent. Here the noun corresponds to a frequent use of the verb, as when we say. "This will answer (i.e., fully meet) the end in view;" "It answers the purpose."