He hung back before replying.

他在回答前犹豫了一阵子。

youdao

She hesitated before replying.

她犹豫了一下才回答。

《牛津词典》

He thought for a moment before replying.

他想了一下才回答。

《牛津词典》

West Indies put India into bat and restricted them to 217-7 before replying with 218-4 in 44 overs.

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Cambridgeshire is just beginning a public consultation on its budget and said it would await the results before replying.

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Murray looked at Mr Flanagan and Mr Chernoff in turn and then paused for what seemed like an eternity before replying, "no".

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