answer back

verb

1. adverb to reply rudely to (a person, esp someone in authority) when one is expected to remain silent

Idioms and Phrases

see talk back .

Example Sentences

Just a few weeks ago, Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner defended Ms Gray's "exceptional" work and said she was being "demonised" in the media without the ability to answer back, with other ministers expressing discomfort at the "gendered" flavour of the attacks.

From BBC

She devises a way to beam them better, and gets an answer back, though not the answer anyone would expect.

From Los Angeles Times

"No one gave us an answer back about what we had reported and conveyed."

From BBC

"In a clinical setting, how that would happen is a doctor would check on the patient on an hourly basis and request a single time-point blood measurement of vancomycin. Someone would come to draw blood, send it to the clinic and get an answer back at some later time. Our system is one way to address that delay."

From Science Daily

Chief executives wanting to talk and embody values may find it difficult to answer back.

From BBC

Related Words

• acknowledge
• argue
• claim
• defend
• deny
• explain
• plead
• resolve
• respond
• return
• say
• solve