在一般法律上，答辯也稱為答案，是原来反對某人或某事的莊嚴聲明，因此一般用以反陳述，辩护，以及回覆、回應问题，或表达对問題的反对，或者是問題的正確解決方案。
The principal pleading by the defendant in response to plaintiff's complaint; in criminal law it consists of the defendant's plea of `guilty' or `not guilty' (or nolo contendere); in civil law it must contain denials of all allegations in the plaintiff's complaint that the defendant hopes to controvert and it can contain affirmative defenses or counterclaims