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verb (used with object)
1.
to put a question to; inquire of: I asked him but he didn't answer.
2.
to request information about: to ask the way.
3.
to try to get by using words; request: to ask advice; to ask a favor.
4.
to solicit from; request of: Could I ask you a favor? Ask her for advice.
5.
to demand; expect: What price are they asking? A little silence is all I ask.
6.
to set a price of: to ask $20 for the hat.
7.
to call for; need; require: This experiment asks patience.
8.
to invite: to ask guests to dinner.
9.
Archaic. to publish (banns).
verb (used without object)
10.
to make inquiry; inquire: to ask about a person.
11.
to request or petition (usually followed by for ): to ask for leniency; to ask for food.
00:10
Ask
is one of our favorite verbs.
So is absquatulate. Does it mean:
| to flee; abscond: |
| to chew (food) slowly and thoroughly. |
12.
ask for it, to risk or invite trouble, danger, punishment, etc., by persisting in some action or manner: He was asking for it by his abusive remarks.
Origin:
before 900; Middle English asken, axen, Old English āscian, āxian; cognate with Old Frisian āskia, Old Saxon ēscon, Old High German eiscōn (German heischen), Sanskrit icchati (he) seeks
before 900; Middle English asken, axen, Old English āscian, āxian; cognate with Old Frisian āskia, Old Saxon ēscon, Old High German eiscōn (German heischen), Sanskrit icchati (he) seeks
Related forms
ask·er, noun
un·ask·ing, adjective
un·ask·ing·ly, adverb
Antonyms
1, 10. answer.
1, 10. answer.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
Cite This Source
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Link To ask
Collins
World English Dictionary
ask (ɑːsk) ![[Click for IPA pronunciation guide]](http://static.sfdict.com/dictstatic/g/d/dictionary_questionbutton_default.gif) | |
| —vb (often foll by for) | |
| 1. | ( |
| 2. | (tr) to inquire about: she asked him the time of the train; she asked the way |
| 3. | (tr) to direct or put (a question) |
| 4. | to make a request or demand: she asked |
| 5. | (tr) to demand or expect (esp in the phrases ask a lot of, ask too much of) |
| 6. | (tr) ask out, Also: ask over to request (a person) politely to come or go to a place; invite: he asked her to the party |
| 7. | (tr) to need; require: the job asks both time and patience |
| 8. | archaic (tr) to proclaim (marriage banns) |
| —n | |
| 9. | informal (Brit), (Austral), (NZ) a big ask, a tough ask a task which is difficult to fulfil |
| [Old English āscian; related to Old Frisian āskia, Old Saxon ēscon, Old High German eiscōn] | |
| 'asker | |
| —n | |
| Ask (ɑːsk) | |
| —n | |
| Norse myth the first man, created by the gods from an ash tree | |
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
Cite This Source
Etymonline
Word Origin & History
ask
O.E. ascian "ask," from earlier ahsian, from P.Gmc. *aiskojan (cf. O.S. escon, O.Fris. askia, M.Du. eiscen, O.H.G. eiscon, Ger. heischen "to ask, demand"), from PIE *ais- "to wish, desire" (cf. Skt. icchati "seeks, desires," Arm. aic "investigation," O.C.S. iskati "to seek," Lith. iekau "to seek"). Form
in Eng. infl. by a Scand. form of the word (cf. Dan. æske; the O.E. would have evolved by normal sound changes into ash, esh, which was a Midlands and s.w. England dialect form). The variant in modern dialect ax is as old as O.E. acsian and was an accepted literary variant until c.1600. O.E. also had fregnan, frignan which carried more directly the sense of "question, inquire," and is from PIE root *prek-, the common source of words for "ask" in most I.E. languages. If you ask me "in my opinion" is attested from 1910.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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FOLDOC
American Heritage
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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