ask
verb (used with object)
to put a question to; inquire of.
ask
1 American
[ask, ahsk]
/ æsk, ɑsk /
verb (used with object)
-
asks,
present (3rd person singular)
-
asked,
past participle, past
-
asking
present participle
-
to put a question to; inquire of.
I asked him but he didn't answer.
- Synonyms:
- interrogate, question
- Antonyms:
- answer
-
to request information about.
to ask the way.
-
to try to get by using words; request.
to ask advice; to ask a favor.
-
to solicit from; request of.
Could I ask you a favor? Ask her for advice.
-
to demand; expect.
What price are they asking? A little silence is all I ask.
-
to set a price of.
to ask $20 for the hat.
-
to call for; need; require.
This experiment asks patience.
-
to invite.
to ask guests to dinner.
-
Archaic. to publish (banns).
verb (used without object)
-
asks,
present (3rd person singular)
-
asked,
past participle, past
-
asking
present participle
noun
-
a question or inquiry.
-
a request, especially a demanding one.
Is it too big an ask for you to give me a loan?
idioms
Ask
2
American
[ahsk]
/ ɑsk /
noun
Scandinavian Mythology.
ask
1
British
/ ɑːsk /
verb
-
(often foll by about) to put a question (to); request an answer (from)
she asked (him) about God
-
(tr) to inquire about
she asked him the time of the train
she asked the way
-
(tr) to direct or put (a question)
-
to make a request or demand
she asked (him) for information
they asked for a deposit
-
(tr) to demand or expect (esp in the phrases ask a lot of, ask too much of )
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Also: ask out, ask over. (tr) to request (a person) politely to come or go to a place; invite
he asked her to the party
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(tr) to need; require
the job asks both time and patience
-
archaic (tr) to proclaim (marriage banns)
noun
Ask
2
British
/ ɑːsk /
noun
ask
More Idioms
Usage
What is a basic definition of ask? Ask is a verb that means to present a question to someone, to request something, or to invite someone. Ask has several other senses as a verb and a noun. If you are asking someone something, you usually want answers from them. When asking about something, you might pose several questions or politely request information about something.
- Real-life examples: Students ask teachers questions about things that confuse them. If you forget your watch, you might ask someone what time it is. You might need to ask a store employee where the bathroom is.
- Used in a sentence: We asked the teacher which chapters would be on the test.
- Real-life examples: Children ask Santa Claus for presents at Christmas. Your mom asks you to clean your room. When you love someone, you might ask them to marry you.
- Used in a sentence: I asked Bill if I could borrow his shovel.
- Real-life examples: You can ask your friends over for a party. Your grandparents might ask you to come and visit.
- Used in a sentence: Jin asked Maria out for a date on Saturday.
Synonym Usage
See inquire.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
asksimple
-
askssimple
-
have askedperfect
-
has askedperfect
-
am askingprogressive
-
are askingprogressive
-
is askingprogressive
-
have been askingperfect progressive
-
has been askingperfect progressive
Past
-
askedsimple
-
had askedperfect
-
was askingprogressive
-
were askingprogressive
-
had been askingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of ask1
First recorded 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”
Origin of Ask2
< Old Norse Askr; see ash 2
Explanation
To ask is to pose a question or request something. If you say "What time is lunch?", then you're asking a question. You've probably heard people say "Can I ask you a question?" That pretty much sums up what asking is: trying to get information or make a request. A teacher asks students to answer questions, but a student has to ask the teacher for permission to use the bathroom. In business, the asking price is the amount the seller wants you to pay. Asking is how you find things out and get what you need.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Families who have been displaced several times during the war increasingly ask where they could go next, and whether they might even be forced to leave Gaza altogether.
From BBC ● Oct. 7, 2026
Don’t ask people what they think; ask them to share a story instead.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 7, 2026
Retirement-planning software won’t ask you what you’re looking for in a partner or how often you exercise, but those are two major aspects of your life that will impact what your future retirement looks like.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 7, 2026
And then, one night, a server has to ask if you would like to add chips.
From Salon ● Oct. 7, 2026
I ask Nate, ache ballooning in my throat.
From "Red Flags and Butterflies" by Sheryl Azzam
Ask the people around him what comes after that and they smile, because Messi has never really planned beyond his next game.
From BBC ● Oct. 6, 2026
Ask yourself what the money needs to do for you, said Eustache Clerveaux, a certified financial planner and partner at Fidare Wealth Solutions.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 3, 2026
But the better answer to your question might be: Ask me again the next time the Fed raises rates.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 18, 2026
That’s what you do when you go somewhere new: Ask someone who knows.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 18, 2026
“Make an emperor into a prince? Ask an emperor to travel to receive gifts? I assure you, this will not sit well with Chief Powhatan,” he says.
From "Blood on the River" by Elisa Carbone
The same order asks the Treasury to find a way, including legislation, to never collect it.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 7, 2026
At El Nopal, when the baskets arrive, nobody asks who is paying for this round.
From Salon ● Oct. 7, 2026
“Do you want to land on a runway that needs repair?” she asks.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 6, 2026
“You know how you can tell when someone’s giving you a compliment that’s not sincere?” she asks.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 6, 2026
“Your dad tells me your birthdays are tomorrow. You two are turning fifteen! That’s exciting. Any big plans?” she asks.
From "Split the Sky" by Marie Arnold
Maye asked for a moment to think — “let me try not to get too controversial,” he said — before revealing his answer.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 7, 2026
Formal identification is yet to take place, and North Wales Police has asked for the public not to speculate as to her identity on social media.
From BBC ● Oct. 7, 2026
The state has asked for the CDC’s help in getting the outbreak under control, but on the condition that the CDC recognize all of the deaths that the state says were measles-associated.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 7, 2026
Someone standing near me asked who was opening: “R.E.M. They’re from Georgia.”
From Salon ● Oct. 7, 2026
IT was time for Sancho to go to the island, and the Duke asked him to get ready.
From "Adventures of Don Quixote" by Argentina Palacios
He went back near the galley where he wouldn’t bother his seatmates and called his mom, asking her to grab a replacement pair.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 7, 2026
The footage was pored over by Naicker's team of commentators, while his phone was "WhatsApping off the hook" with messages from around the world, asking him to show it again and again.
From BBC ● Oct. 7, 2026
Its staff are asking big banks how they value the private-credit loans on their books.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 7, 2026
And everyone reaches into the basket without asking.
From Salon ● Oct. 7, 2026
But Anna May and I were just starting out as friends, so I only said, “Thanks for asking me to tag along. I hope we can do it again.”
From "The Red Car to Hollywood" by Jennie Liu
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.
