ask for

British  

verb

1. to try to obtain by requesting

   he asked for help

2. informal (intr) to behave in a provocative manner that is regarded as inviting (trouble)

   she's asking for trouble

   you're asking for it

3. to ask after

   tell your parents I'm asking for them

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ask for Idioms  

1. 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.

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

ask for

If she had known she could ask for a human to review her application, she might have done things differently.

From BBC ● Oct. 22, 2026

The secret to getting colleagues to say ‘yes’ when you ask for something.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 21, 2026

The fund investor at least chose private credit, can read the fund’s report and can ask for his money back, even if the answer is 5%.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 20, 2026

For 35-year-old Katie Mills, she said raising her sons differently means that they know not to be afraid “to ask for help.”

From Salon ● Oct. 18, 2026

It’s even possible that some of the other pilots—including Lilya Litvyak, Katya Budanova, and Raisa Belyaeva—may have gone behind Tamara’s back to ask for a new commander.

From "A Thousand Sisters" by Elizabeth Wein

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Related Words

• assert
• call for
• claim
• confront
• defy
• demand
• denounce
• impose
• require
• test
• try

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