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question
[ kwes-chuhn ]
noun
- a sentence in an interrogative form, addressed to someone in order to get information in reply.
Synonyms: interrogation, query, inquiry
- a problem for discussion or under discussion; a matter for investigation.
- a matter of some uncertainty or difficulty; problem (usually followed by of ):
It was simply a question of time.
- a subject of dispute or controversy.
- a proposal to be debated or voted on, as in a meeting or a deliberative assembly.
- the procedure of putting a proposal to vote.
- Politics. a problem of public policy submitted to the voters for an expression of opinion.
- Law.
- a controversy that is submitted to a judicial tribunal or administrative agency for decision.
- the interrogation by which information is secured.
- Obsolete. judicial examination or trial.
- the act of asking or inquiring; interrogation; query.
- inquiry into or discussion of some problem or doubtful matter.
verb (used with object)
verb (used without object)
- to ask a question or questions.
question
/ ˈkwɛstʃən /
noun
- a form of words addressed to a person in order to elicit information or evoke a response; interrogative sentence
- a point at issue
it's only a question of time until she dies
the question is how long they can keep up the pressure
- a difficulty or uncertainty; doubtful point
a question of money
there's no question about it
- an act of asking
- an investigation into some problem or difficulty
- a motion presented for debate by a deliberative body
- put the questionput the question to require members of a deliberative assembly to vote on a motion presented
- law a matter submitted to a court or other tribunal for judicial or quasi-judicial decision
- question of factquestion of fact (in English law) that part of the issue before a court that is decided by the jury
- question of lawquestion of law (in English law) that part of the issue before a court that is decided by the judge
- beg the questionbeg the question
- to avoid giving a direct answer by posing another question
- to assume the truth of that which is intended to be proved See petitio principii
- beyond (all) questionbeyond (all) question beyond (any) dispute or doubt
- call incall ininto question
- to make (something) the subject of disagreement
- to cast doubt upon the validity, truth, etc, of (something)
- in questionin question under discussion
this is the man in question
- out of the questionout of the question beyond consideration; unthinkable or impossible
the marriage is out of the question
- pop the question informal.pop the question to propose marriage
verb
- to put a question or questions to (a person); interrogate
- to make (something) the subject of dispute or disagreement
- to express uncertainty about the validity, truth, etc, of (something); doubt
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Usage
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Derived Forms
- ˈquestioner, noun
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Other Words From
- question·er noun
- counter·question noun verb
- outquestion verb (used with object)
- pre·question verb (used with object)
- re·question verb (used with object)
- sub·question noun
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Word History and Origins
Origin of question1
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Word History and Origins
Origin of question1
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Idioms and Phrases
- beyond question, beyond dispute; without doubt: Also beyond all question.
It was, beyond question, a magnificent performance.
- call in / into question,
- to dispute; challenge.
- to cast doubt upon; question:
This report calls into question all previous research on the subject.
- in question,
- under consideration.
- in dispute.
- out of the question, not to be considered; unthinkable; impossible:
She thought about a trip to Spain but dismissed it as out of the question.
- beg the question. beg 1( def 9 ).
More idioms and phrases containing question
see ask a stupid question ; beg the question ; beside the point (question) ; beyond question ; burning question ; call in question ; in question ; leading question ; loaded question ; open question ; out of the question ; pop the question ; rhetorical question ; without question .Discover More
Synonym Study
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Example Sentences
He also bragged about earning a PhD, a point Smerconish did not question.
She narrowed her eyes, bit her lip as if to chew over the question, and whisked some stray blond hairs away from her face.
Her post-crown fame, though, only further begs the question: Why has there not been another Jewish Miss America since 1945?
We were barely into the appetizer when he asked a fairly basic question—where did my family live?
The woman in question, meanwhile, has business of her own to take care of—she is reported to be shopping a memoir.
There was no doubt thought of his own loss in this question: yet there was, one may hope, a germ of solicitude for the mother too.
In fact, except for Ramona's help, it would have been a question whether even Alessandro could have made Baba work in harness.
It's an idle question, I know; wise men and musty philosophers say that regrets are foolish.
Accordingly, the question "How far does the note issue under the new system seem likely to prove an elastic one?"
The moment was an awkward one, and Cynthia wished madly that she had not been prompted to ask that unfortunate question.
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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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