Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English - reply

~1 v 1 to answer someone by saying or writing something  (I asked Clive where he was going but he didn't reply.)  (You must reply to Dennis's letter soon.) reply that  (I can only reply that I did not realise what was happening. | "That's what I expected," replied Mandy.)  (- see answer1) 2 to react to an action by doing something else + to/with  (The terrorists replied to their threats with violence.) ~2 n 1 something that is said, written, or done as a way of replying  (We've had 60 replies to our advertisement so far.) make no reply (=not reply)  (I asked him if I could help, but he made no reply. | The only reply was a burst of gunfire.) 2 in reply to formal as a way of replying to something  (I am writing in reply to your letter of 1st June.) 3 without reply if a sports team gets a number of points or goals (goal (2)) without reply, their opponents get no points