ask

[ask, ahsk] /æsk, ɑsk/
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.
Idioms
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
Related forms
asker, noun
unasking, adjective
unaskingly, adverb
Can be confused
acts, ask, axe.
Synonyms
1. question, interrogate. 3, 11. sue, appeal. 4. beseech, beg, entreat. 10. See inquire.
Antonyms
1, 10. answer.
British Dictionary definitions for ask for

ask after

verb
1.
(preposition) to make inquiries about the health of (someone): he asked after her mother

ask for

verb (preposition)
1.
to try to obtain by requesting: he asked for help
2.
(intransitive) (informal) to behave in a provocative manner that is regarded as inviting (trouble): she's asking for trouble, you're asking for it
3.
(Scot) to ask after: tell your parents I'm asking for them

ask

/ɑːsk/
verb
1.
(often foll by about) to put a question (to); request an answer (from): she asked (him) about God
2.
(transitive) to inquire about: she asked him the time of the train, she asked the way
3.
(transitive) to direct or put (a question)
4.
(may take a clause as object or an infinitive) often foll by for. to make a request or demand: she asked (him) for information, they asked for a deposit
5.
(transitive) to demand or expect (esp in the phrases ask a lot of, ask too much of)
6.
(transitive) Also ask out, ask over. to request (a person) politely to come or go to a place; invite: he asked her to the party
7.
(transitive) to need; require: the job asks both time and patience
8.
(transitive) (archaic) to proclaim (marriage banns)
noun
9.
(Brit & Austral, NZ, informal) a big ask, a tough ask, a task which is difficult to fulfil
See also ask after, ask for
Derived Forms
asker, noun
Word Origin
Old English āscian; related to Old Frisian āskia, Old Saxon ēscon, Old High German eiscōn

Ask

/ɑːsk/
noun
1.
(Norse myth) the first man, created by the gods from an ash tree
Word Origin and History for ask for

ask

v.

Old English ascian "ask, call for an answer; make a request," from earlier ahsian, from Proto-Germanic *aiskojan (cf. Old Saxon escon, Old Frisian askia "request, demand, ask," Middle Dutch eiscen, Dutch eisen "to ask, demand," Old High German eiscon "to ask (a question)," German heischen "to ask, demand"), from PIE *ais- "to wish, desire" (cf. Sanskrit icchati "seeks, desires," Armenian aic "investigation," Old Church Slavonic iskati "to seek," Lithuanian ieškau "to seek").

Form in English influenced by a Scandinavian form of the word (cf. Danish æske; the Old English would have evolved by normal sound changes into ash, esh, which was a Midlands and s.w. England dialect form). Modern dialectal ax is as old as Old English acsian and was an accepted literary variant until c.1600. Related: Asked; asking. Old English 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 Indo-European languages (see pray). If you ask me "in my opinion" is attested from 1910. Asking price is attested from 1755.

Idioms and Phrases with ask for

ask for

Also, ask for it. To persist in an action despite the likelihood that it will bring trouble on oneself, as in Speeding as much as he does, he has been asking for a ticket and Mary deserved that low grade; in effect, she asked for it by not studying. [ c. 1900 ]
Also see: ask for the moon

ask

, see