ask

Etymology

Definitions

1. 1

   To request or petition.

   • I asked her age.
   • I didn't know the answer so I asked.
   • Everyone always asks what my advice is, and my advice is don’t overintellectualize your art.
2. 2

   To put forward (a question) to be answered.

   • to ask a question
   • to ask a riddle
   • He is of age; ask him: he shall speak for himself.
3. 3

   To require, demand, claim, or expect, whether by way of remuneration or return, or as a…

   To require, demand, claim, or expect, whether by way of remuneration or return, or as a matter of necessity.

   • What price are you asking for the house?
   • It’s asking a lot of this old car to make it all the way up to Scotland.
   • But in any Exigence of State, like that they are now pressed with, it certainly asks a much longer time to conduct any Design, for the Good of the Common-wealth, to its Maturity and Perfection.
4. ›+ 13 more definitionsshow fewer

   1. 4

      To invite.

      • Don’t ask them to the wedding.
   2. 5

      To indirectly encourage or make more likely (an undesirable outcome).

      • Walking around with such an expensive watch is asking to be mugged.
   3. 6

      To publish in church for marriage

      To publish in church for marriage; said of both the banns and the persons.

   4. 7

      To take (a person's situation) as an example.

      • Even when the damage isn't that clear cut, the intangible burdens of a bad image can add up. Just ask Dow Chemical.
   5. 8

      An act or instance of asking.

      • To ask for a gift is a privilege, a wonderful expression of commitment to and ownership of the organization. Getting a yes to an ask can be a rush, but asking for the gift can and should be just as rewarding.
      • That really does not seem much of an ask.
   6. 9

      Something asked or asked for.

      • I know this is a big ask, but …
      • Communication researchers call this the foot-in-the-door syndrome. Essentially it's based on the observation that people who respond positively to a small “ask” are more likely to respond to a bigger “ask” later on.
   7. 10

      An asking price.

      • The buy prices are a bit higher than the sell prices; the difference between the buy/sell is called bid/ask spread. If you are selling a stock, you’ll get the bid price; if you are buying a stock, you’ll get the ask price.
   8. 11

      A message sent to a blog on social networking platform Tumblr, which can be publicly…

      A message sent to a blog on social networking platform Tumblr, which can be publicly posted and replied to by the recipient.

      • Answering 'asks' like this is one common way that Tumblr bloggers interact with their followers, so it is in the act of publicly answering these asks that I examine community building practices.
      • The following example from Black Mental Health illustrates an ask from an anonymous follower seeking social support: […]
      • Once the number of unanswered Asks in the inbox was over eight thousand, despite us deleting everything accumulated in the inbox once a year.
   9. 12

      An eft

      An eft; newt.

      • He looked at the beast. It was not an eel. It was very like an ask.
   10. 13

       A lizard.

   11. 14

       The first male human, according to the Poetic Edda.

   12. 15

       A surname from Swedish.

   13. 16

       Initialism of amplitude shift keying.

The neighborhood

• neighborbeg
• neighborbeseech
• neighbordemand
• neighborenquire
• neighborentreat
• neighborfrain
• neighborimplore
• neighborinterrogate
• neighborpetition
• neighborprompt
• neighborquery
• neighborquestion