asking

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Related to asking: asking questions

ask

(ăsk)

v. asked, ask·ing, asks

v. tr.

1. To put a question to: When we realized that we didn't know the answer, we asked the teacher.

2. To seek an answer to: ask a question.

3. To seek information about: asked directions.

a. To make a request of: asked me for a loan.

b. To make a request for. Often used with an infinitive or clause: ask a favor of a friend; asked to go along on the trip; asked that he be allowed to stay out late.

5. To require or call for as a price or condition: asked ten dollars for the book.

6. To expect or demand: ask too much of a child.

7. To invite: asked them to dinner.

8. Archaic To publish, as marriage banns.

v. intr.

1. To make inquiry; seek information.

2. To make a request: asked for help.

n. pl. asks Informal

1. The act of making a request: "He was contacted by the mayor's fund-raiser ... a day after the mayor made the ask" (Jennifer Fermino).

2. Something that is requested: "Being funny on demand is a big ask" (Anne Curzan).

Phrasal Verb:

ask out

To invite (someone) to a social engagement.

Idiom:

ask for it (or trouble) Informal

To persist in an action despite the likelihood that it will result in difficulty or punishment.

[Middle English asken, from Old English ācsian, āscian; see ais- in the Appendix of Indo-European roots.]

ask′er n.

Synonyms: ask, question, inquire, query, interrogate, examine, quiz
These verbs mean to seek to gain or elicit information from another: Ask is the most neutral term: We asked the police officer for directions. The coach asked me what was wrong.
Question implies careful or methodical asking: The prosecutor questioned the witness on several key points.
Inquire often suggests a polite or formal request: We inquired whether the hotel had laundry service. The chairman inquired how best to secure the information.
Query usually suggests settling a doubt: The proofreader queried the author on the spelling of a name.
Interrogate applies especially to official and often aggressive questioning: The detectives interrogated the suspects for several hours.
Examine refers particularly to close and detailed questioning to ascertain a person's knowledge or qualifications: The committee examined each candidate separately.
Quiz denotes the informal examination of students: The teacher quizzed the pupils on the multiplication table.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

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Noun

asking - the verbal act of requesting

request

speech act - the use of language to perform some act

notice, notification - a request for payment; "the notification stated the grace period and the penalties for defaulting"

indirect request, wish - an expression of some desire or inclination; "I could tell that it was his wish that the guests leave"; "his crying was an indirect request for attention"

invitation - a request (spoken or written) to participate or be present or take part in something; "an invitation to lunch"; "she threw the invitation away"

appeal, entreaty, prayer - earnest or urgent request; "an entreaty to stop the fighting"; "an appeal for help"; "an appeal to the public to keep calm"

orison, petition, prayer - reverent petition to a deity

call - a request; "many calls for Christmas stories"; "not many calls for buggywhips"

billing, charge - request for payment of a debt; "they submitted their charges at the end of each month"

trick or treat - a request by children on Halloween; they pass from door to door asking for goodies and threatening to play tricks on those who refuse

inquiring, questioning - a request for information

order - a request for something to be made, supplied, or served; "I gave the waiter my order"; "the company's products were in such demand that they got more orders than their call center could handle"

callback, recall - a request by the manufacturer of a defective product to return the product (as for replacement or repair)

Translations

спрос

asking

n no pl to be had for the asking → umsonst or leicht or mühelos zu haben sein; he could have had it for the asking → er hätte es leicht bekommen können; she thought the world was hers for the asking → sie dachte, die Welt stehe ihr offen

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

asking

n. súplica, petición, demanda.

English-Spanish Medical Dictionary © Farlex 2012

Mentioned in ?

References in classic literature ?

"It's no use asking Button-Bright questions," said the shaggy man, who had been eating another apple; "but someone ought to take care of the poor little chap, don't you think?

View in context

The governor lowered the staff, and as he did so the old man who had the stick handed it to the other old man to hold for him while he swore, as if he found it in his way; and then laid his hand on the cross of the staff, saying that it was true the ten crowns that were demanded of him had been lent him; but that he had with his own hand given them back into the hand of the other, and that he, not recollecting it, was always asking for them.

Next, two men, one apparently a farm labourer, and the other a tailor, for he had a pair of shears in his hand, presented themselves before him, and the tailor said, "Senor governor, this labourer and I come before your worship by reason of this honest man coming to my shop yesterday (for saving everybody's presence I'm a passed tailor, God be thanked), and putting a piece of cloth into my hands and asking me, 'Senor, will there be enough in this cloth to make me a cap?' Measuring the cloth I said there would.

View in context

Vanderpole had called at the Savoy Hotel upon a travelling American, who had written to the Embassy asking for some advice as to introducing American patents into Great Britain and France.

View in context

I hope I am doing nothing wrong in asking it again?"

View in context

Since when, I wonder, in the Musketeers, did they grant men leave of absence without their asking for it?"

View in context

We laugh at the notion that men are famously bad about asking for directions.

Ask..!

But we can't stop asking - not today, not tomorrow, not ever.

Where are we heading?

She still keeps asking me the same questions over and over again.

JUST BRENDA: How do I tell her to quit playing games with my heart?

Asking prices in The Pearl Qatar ranged from QR12,500 to QR18,000 per square metre.