ANSWERABLE • DICTIONARY ONE.COM • Definition of Answerable

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/ˈænsərəbəl/ Listen

adjective

Answerable adj.

Obliged to answer; liable to be called to account; liable to pay, indemnify, or make good; accountable; amenable; responsible; as, an agent is answerable to his principal; to be answerable for a debt, or for damages. "Will any man argue that... he can not be justly punished, but is answerable only to God?"

Capable of being answered or refuted; admitting a satisfactory answer. "The argument, though subtle, is yet answerable."

Correspondent; conformable; hence, comparable. "What wit and policy of man is answerable to their discreet and orderly course?" "This revelation... was answerable to that of the apostle to the Thessalonians."

Proportionate; commensurate; suitable; as, an achievement answerable to the preparation for it.

Equal; equivalent; adequate. (Archaic) "Had the valor of his soldiers been answerable, he had reached that year, as was thought, the utmost bounds of Britain."

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Etymology of 'Answerable'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Answerable" Quotes from Famous Books

... commissioned or non-commissioned, being assaulted by a subordinate; and the civilian observer of Army life may be assured that, almost without exception, whenever that kind of thing occurs, petty tyrannies and intermeddlings on the part of the superior are answerable for it. I met this particular man on one occasion only. I suppose that I had been pointed out to him as the young insubordinate who had dared to trespass on tradition by wearing the clothes served out to him. He stopped me in ...

— Recollections • David Christie Murray

... for their errors and presumption. It was in vain that the Army Bill was again introduced. The House, while allowing the ordinary military expenditure for the year, struck out the costs of the reorganisation, and declared Ministers personally answerable for the sums expended. Each appearance of the leading members of the Cabinet now became the signal for contumely and altercation. The decencies of debate ceased to be observed on either side. When the President ...

— History of Modern Europe 1792-1878 • C. A. Fyffe

... a leader in the colony. In political affairs his influence was second to none, and in the Commonwealth period he became governor. He is described as "an old planter of above 30 years standing, one of the Council and a most deserving Commonwealth man.... He hath a fine house, and all things answerable to it; he sows yearly store of hemp and flax and causes it to be spun; he keeps weavers and hath a tan house ... hath 40 negro servants, brings them up to trade, in his house; he yearly sows abundance of wheat, barley, ...

— Patrician and Plebeian - Or The Origin and Development of the Social Classes of the Old Dominion • Thomas J. Wertenbaker

... Caballador,' said the bishop, 'in the name of the Virgin, I enjoin you to surrender your sword.' 'My lord,' said Kate, 'I dare not do it with so many enemies about me.' 'But I,' replied the bishop, 'become answerable to the law for your safe keeping.' Upon which, with filial reverence, all parties dropped their swords. Kate being severely wounded, the bishop led her into his palace. In an instant came the catastrophe; Kate's discovery ...

— Narrative And Miscellaneous Papers • Thomas De Quincey

... capitanata. Among the Anglo-Saxons the captain was schipp-hlaford, or ship's lord. The captain, strictly speaking, is the officer commanding a line-of-battle ship, or a frigate carrying twenty or more cannon. A captain in the royal navy is answerable for any bad conduct in the military government, navigation, and equipment of his ship; also for any neglect of duty in his inferior officers, whose several charges he is appointed to regulate. It is also a title, though incorrectly, ...

— The Sailor's Word-Book • William Henry Smyth

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