pray tell

American  

[prey tel] / ˈpreɪ ˈtɛl /

verb phrase

1. (used to emphasize a request for information, often to suggest that the answer is either obvious or unknowable).

   You say there is no moon, but what, pray tell, rises in the sky every night?

   Just what, pray tell, do those people actually do?

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Etymology

Origin of pray tell

First recorded in 1840–45

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

pray tell

And who, pray tell, is at the bottom of the list?

From Washington Times ● Oct. 26, 2022

What, pray tell, had roused freedom from its slumber?

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 26, 2022

Whose bourgeois piety could he be referring to, pray tell?

From Salon ● Apr. 24, 2021

What are these so many other things, pray tell?

From The Guardian ● Jul. 20, 2020

“And what, pray tell, is the Big Creek Missile Agency?”

From "October Sky" by Homer Hickam