What does "respond" mean?

Respond: To show some effect in return to a force; to act in response; to accord; to correspond; to suit. A new affliction strings a new cord in the heart, which responds to some new note of complaint within the wide scale of human woe. Buckminster. To every theme responds thy various lay. Broome.

Additional senses

  1. 2.To render satisfaction; to be answerable; as, the defendant is held to respond in damages. [U.S.] See Reply.
  2. 3.To answer; to reply.
  3. 4.To suit or accord with; to correspond to. [R.] For his great deeds respond his speeches great. Fairfax.
  4. 5.An answer; a response. [R.]
  5. 6.(Eccl.) A short anthem sung at intervals during the reading of a chapter.
  6. 7.(Arch.) A half pier or pillar attached to a wall to support an arch. Oxf. Gloss.

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