What part of speech is the word answering?

The word "answering" is a present participle which functions as a verb.

Here's why:

* Present Participle: It ends in "-ing" and is formed from the base verb "answer."

* Verb: It describes an action, in this case, the act of providing an answer.

Let's see it in action:

* "He is answering the phone." Here, "answering" is the main verb describing the action of the subject "He."

* "The answering machine is on." In this case, "answering" acts as an adjective modifying the noun "machine."

So, while it technically functions as a participle, it's primarily used as a verb in most cases.