ask
English
[edit]Alternative forms
[edit]- aks, ax (alternative pronunciation until about 1600, now dialectal and no longer standard)
- aske (obsolete)
- aſk (obsolete)
Pronunciation
[edit]- (UK)
- (US)
- (General American) IPA(key): /ˈæsk/
- (New York City, Philadelphia) IPA(key): /eəsk/
- (African-American Vernacular, Cajun, Nigeria, proscribed) enPR: ăks, IPA(key): /ˈæks/
- Rhymes: -æsk, -ɑːsk
- Homophones: ax, axe (some dialects)
Etymology 1
[edit]From Middle English asken (also esken, aschen, eschen, etc.), from Old English āscian, from Proto-West Germanic *aiskōn, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂eys- (“to wish; request”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian aaskje (“to ask, demand, require”), West Frisian easkje (“to ask, demand, require”), Dutch eisen (“to demand, require”), German heischen (“to ask, request, implore”), Russian иска́ть (iskátʹ), Sanskrit इच्छति (iccháti) (whence Hindi ईछना (īchnā).
Verb
[edit]ask (third-person singular simple present asks, present participle asking, simple past and past participle asked)
- To request or petition.
- (transitive, intransitive) To request (information, or an answer to a question).
- I asked her age.
- I didn't know the answer so I asked.
- (transitive or ditransitive) To request or enquire of (a person).
- I asked her (for) her age.
- I’m going to ask this lady (for) directions.
- If you want to know, ask her.
- (transitive usually with 'for' or intransitive) To request (an item or service); see also ask for.
- to ask for a second helping at dinner
- to ask for help with homework
- to ask a favour
- If you want help, you only have to ask.
- 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Matthew 7:7:
- Ask, and it shall be given you.
- (transitive) To request (someone to do something).
- Emma asked Jim to close his eyes.
- To request permission (to do something).
- She asked to see the doctor.
- Did you ask to use the car?
- (transitive, intransitive) To request (information, or an answer to a question).
- To put forward (a question) to be answered.
- to ask a question
- to ask a riddle
- 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, John 9:21:
- He is of age; ask him: he shall speak for himself.
- 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.
- 1705, J[oseph] Addison, Remarks on Several Parts of Italy, &c. in the Years 1701, 1702, 1703, London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC:
- 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.
- To invite.
- Don’t ask them to the wedding.
- To publish in church for marriage; said of both the banns and the persons.
- (figuratively) To take (a person's situation) as an example.
- 1990 April 26, Paul Wiseman, “Dark days”, in USA Today:
- Even when the damage isn't that clear cut, the intangible burdens of a bad image can add up. Just ask Dow Chemical.
Usage notes
[edit]- This is a catenative verb that takes the to infinitive. See Appendix:English catenative verbs
- Pronouncing ask as /æks/ or /ɑːks/ is a common example of metathesis (attested since the Old English period) and still common in some varieties of English, notably African American Vernacular English (AAVE) and Multicultural London English (MLE).
- The action expressed by the verb ask can also be expressed by the noun-verb combination pose a question.
Conjugation
[edit]infinitive | (to) ask | ||
---|---|---|---|
present tense | past tense | ||
1st-person singular | ask, aks* | asked, aksed* | |
2nd-person singular | askest** | asked, askedst** | |
3rd-person singular | asks, asketh**, aks*, akses* | asked, aksed* | |
plural | ask, asken** | asked, aksed* | |
subjunctive | ask | asked | |
imperative | ask | — | |
participles | asking, aksing* | asked, aksed* |
Hyponyms
[edit]- beg, beseech, demand, enquire, entreat, frain, implore, interrogate, petition, prompt, query, question, request, solicit, supplicate
Derived terms
[edit]- askability
- askable
- ask after
- ask around
- ask back
- ask box
- askee
- ask for
- ask for it
- ask for someone's hand in marriage
- ask for the moon
- ask for trouble
- askhole
- ask how high when someone says jump
- ask in
- asking for a friend
- ask me anything
- ask me one about sport
- ask me one on sport
- ask my arse
- ask out
- ask over
- ask round
- ask the impossible
- ask the question
- don't ask
- don't ask me
- for the asking
- I ask you
- if you ask me
- I thought you'd never ask
- it's better to ask forgiveness than permission
- it's easier to ask forgiveness than to get permission
- misask
- never ask the barber if you need a haircut
- no questions asked
- outask
- reask
- shoot first and ask questions later
- unask
- who's asking
Translations
[edit]
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Noun
[edit]- An act or instance of asking.
- 2005, Laura Fredricks, The ask:
- 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.
- 2022 December 14, Christian Wolmar, “No Marston Vale line trains... and no one in charge seems to 'give a damn'”, in RAIL, number 972, page 46:
- That really does not seem much of an ask.
- Something asked or asked for.
- Synonym: request
- I know this is a big ask, but …
- 2008, Doug Fields, Duffy Robbins, Speaking to Teenagers:
- 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.
- An asking price.
- (Internet) A message sent to a blog on social networking platform Tumblr, which can be publicly posted and replied to by the recipient.
- 2017, Abigail Oakley, “Supporting one another: Nonbinary community building on Tumblr”, in Isabel K. Düsterhöft, Paul G. Nixon, editors, Sex in the Digital Age, unnumbered page:
- 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.
- 2018, Lynette Kvasny, Fay Cobb Payton, “African American Youth Tumbling Toward Mental Health Support-Seeking and Positive Academic Outcomes”, in Amanda Ochsner, William G. Tierney, Zoë B. Corwin, editors, Diversifying Digital Learning: Online Literacy and Educational Opportunity[1], page 168:
- The following example from Black Mental Health illustrates an ask from an anonymous follower seeking social support: […]
- 2020, Lee Brown, “Behind the Scenes of a Popular Trans Youth Resources Tumblr”, in Alexander Cho, Allison McCracken, Indira N. Hoch, Louisa Stein, editors, A Tumblr Book: Platforms and Cultures[2], page 265:
- Once the number of unanswered Asks in the inbox was over eight thousand, despite us deleting everything accumulated in the inbox once a year.
- For more quotations using this term, see Citations:ask.
Derived terms
[edit]Etymology 2
[edit]From Middle English aske, arske, ascre, from Old English āþexe (“lizard, newt”), from Proto-West Germanic *agiþahsijā (“lizard”), a compound of *agiz (“snake, lizard”) + *þahsuz (“badger”). Cognate of German Echse (“lizard”).
Alternative forms
[edit]Noun
[edit]ask (plural asks)
- (UK dialectal and Scotland) An eft; newt.
- 1876, S. Smiles, Scottish Naturalist:
- He looked at the beast. It was not an eel. It was very like an ask.
- (UK dialectal) A lizard.
- 1951, Malcolm Arthur Smith, The British Amphibians & Reptiles, page 258:
- We hear of Adder dens, but detailed accounts of the discovery of one are very rare. Service (1902) records that a peatman, when levelling on an estate by the Solway, found in a hole in the ground, some 8 inches below the surface, 40 adders, 10 toads and a large number of asks (lizards).
Anagrams
[edit]Danish
[edit]![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1b/Fraxinus-angustifolia.jpg/250px-Fraxinus-angustifolia.jpg)
Etymology
[edit]From Old Norse askr, from Proto-Germanic *askaz.
Pronunciation
[edit]Noun
[edit]ask c (singular definite asken, plural indefinite aske)
- ash tree (Fraxinus spp.), especially, common ash (tree, Fraxinus excelsior)
Declension
[edit]References
[edit]- “ask” in Den Danske Ordbog
Faroese
[edit]Alternative forms
[edit]- askur m
Etymology
[edit]From Old Norse askr, from Proto-Germanic *askaz, *askiz.
Pronunciation
[edit]Noun
[edit]ask f (genitive singular askar, plural askir)
Declension
[edit]Declension of ask | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
f2 | singular | plural | ||
indefinite | definite | indefinite | definite | |
nominative | ask | askin | askir | askirnar |
accusative | ask | askina | askir | askirnar |
dative | ask | askini | askum | askunum |
genitive | askar | askarinnar | aska | askanna |
Icelandic
[edit]Noun
[edit]ask
Northern Kurdish
[edit]Alternative forms
[edit]Etymology
[edit]Ultimately derived from Proto-Indo-European *h₂eḱ-. Confer Persian آهو (âhu).
Pronunciation
[edit]Noun
[edit]ask f (Arabic spelling ئاسک)
Declension
[edit]References
[edit]- Chyet, Michael L. (2020) “ask”, in Ferhenga Birûskî: Kurmanji–English Dictionary (Language Series; 1), volume 1, London: Transnational Press, page 14
Norwegian Bokmål
[edit]Etymology
[edit]From Old Norse askr, from Proto-Germanic *askaz.
Noun
[edit]ask m (definite singular asken, indefinite plural asker, definite plural askene)
References
[edit]- “ask” in The Bokmål Dictionary.
Norwegian Nynorsk
[edit]Etymology
[edit]From Old Norse askr, from Proto-Germanic *askaz. Akin to English ash.
Pronunciation
[edit]Noun
[edit]ask m (definite singular asken, indefinite plural askar, definite plural askane)
References
[edit]- “ask” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.
Old Norse
[edit]Noun
[edit]ask
Old Saxon
[edit]Etymology
[edit]From Proto-West Germanic *ask.
Pronunciation
[edit]Noun
[edit]ask m
Declension
[edit]singular | plural | |
---|---|---|
nominative | ask | askos |
accusative | ask | askos |
genitive | askes | askō |
dative | aske | askum |
instrumental | — | — |
Descendants
[edit]Swedish
[edit]Etymology
[edit]From Old Swedish asker, from Old Norse askr, from Proto-Germanic *askaz, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ōs- (“ash”).
Pronunciation
[edit]Audio: (file)
Noun
[edit]ask c
- European ash (tree) Fraxinus excelsior
- a small box (with a loose lid)
Declension
[edit]Declension of ask | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Singular | Plural | |||
Indefinite | Definite | Indefinite | Definite | |
Nominative | ask | asken | askar | askarna |
Genitive | asks | askens | askars | askarnas |
Derived terms
[edit]- chokladask (“box of chocolates”)
Descendants
[edit]- → Finnish: aski
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ask in Svensk ordbok (SO)
- ask in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)
- ask in Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB)
Anagrams
[edit]- English 1-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English terms with audio links
- Rhymes:English/æsk
- Rhymes:English/æsk/1 syllable
- Rhymes:English/ɑːsk
- Rhymes:English/ɑːsk/1 syllable
- English terms with homophones
- English terms inherited from Middle English
- English terms derived from Middle English
- English terms inherited from Old English
- English terms derived from Old English
- English terms inherited from Proto-West Germanic
- English terms derived from Proto-West Germanic
- English terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- English lemmas
- English verbs
- English transitive verbs
- English intransitive verbs
- English terms with usage examples
- English ditransitive verbs
- English terms with collocations
- English terms with quotations
- English nouns
- English countable nouns
- English informal terms
- en:Internet
- British English
- English dialectal terms
- Scottish English
- English control verbs
- English reporting verbs
- English three-letter words
- en:Communication
- en:Lizards
- en:Newts
- en:Tumblr
- Danish terms inherited from Old Norse
- Danish terms derived from Old Norse
- Danish terms inherited from Proto-Germanic
- Danish terms derived from Proto-Germanic
- Danish terms with IPA pronunciation
- Danish lemmas
- Danish nouns
- Danish common-gender nouns
- da:Olive family plants
- Faroese terms inherited from Old Norse
- Faroese terms derived from Old Norse
- Faroese terms inherited from Proto-Germanic
- Faroese terms derived from Proto-Germanic
- Faroese terms with IPA pronunciation
- Faroese lemmas
- Faroese nouns
- Faroese feminine nouns
- fo:Olive family plants
- Icelandic non-lemma forms
- Icelandic noun forms
- Northern Kurdish terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- Northern Kurdish 1-syllable words
- Northern Kurdish terms with IPA pronunciation
- Northern Kurdish lemmas
- Northern Kurdish nouns
- Northern Kurdish feminine nouns
- kmr:Animals
- Norwegian Bokmål terms inherited from Old Norse
- Norwegian Bokmål terms derived from Old Norse
- Norwegian Bokmål terms inherited from Proto-Germanic
- Norwegian Bokmål terms derived from Proto-Germanic
- Norwegian Bokmål lemmas
- Norwegian Bokmål nouns
- Norwegian Bokmål masculine nouns
- nb:Olive family plants
- Norwegian Nynorsk terms inherited from Old Norse
- Norwegian Nynorsk terms derived from Old Norse
- Norwegian Nynorsk terms inherited from Proto-Germanic
- Norwegian Nynorsk terms derived from Proto-Germanic
- Norwegian Nynorsk terms with IPA pronunciation
- Norwegian Nynorsk lemmas
- Norwegian Nynorsk nouns
- Norwegian Nynorsk masculine nouns
- nn:Olive family plants
- Old Norse non-lemma forms
- Old Norse noun forms
- Old Saxon terms derived from Proto-Germanic
- Old Saxon terms inherited from Proto-Germanic
- Old Saxon terms inherited from Proto-West Germanic
- Old Saxon terms derived from Proto-West Germanic
- Old Saxon terms with IPA pronunciation
- Old Saxon lemmas
- Old Saxon nouns
- Old Saxon masculine nouns
- Old Saxon a-stem nouns
- osx:Olive family plants
- Swedish terms inherited from Old Swedish
- Swedish terms derived from Old Swedish
- Swedish terms inherited from Old Norse
- Swedish terms derived from Old Norse
- Swedish terms inherited from Proto-Germanic
- Swedish terms derived from Proto-Germanic
- Swedish terms inherited from Proto-Indo-European
- Swedish terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- Swedish terms with audio links
- Swedish lemmas
- Swedish nouns
- Swedish common-gender nouns
- sv:Olive family plants