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query

[kweer-ee]
noun, plural que·ries.
  1. a question; an inquiry.
  2. mental reservation; doubt.
  3. Printing. a question mark (?), especially as added on a manuscript, proof sheet, or the like, indicating doubt as to some point in the text.
  4. an inquiry from a writer to an editor of a magazine, newspaper, etc., regarding the acceptability of or interest in an idea for an article, news story, or the like: usually presented in the form of a letter that outlines or describes the projected piece.
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verb (used with object), que·ried, que·ry·ing.
  1. to ask or inquire about: No one queried his presence.
  2. to question as doubtful or obscure: to query a statement.
  3. Printing. to mark (a manuscript, proof sheet, etc.) with a query.
  4. to ask questions of.
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Origin of query

1625–35; alteration (cf. -y3) of earlier quere < Latin quaere quaere
Related formsque·ry·ing·ly, adverbout·que·ry, verb (used with object), out·que·ried, out·que·ry·ing.un·que·ried, adjective
Can be confusedinquiry queryquarry query
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words

objectionquestionquestioninginquiryreservationskepticisminquireinterrogatequizuncertaintymistrustinterrogationdoubtsuspicioninterrogatorydubietyproblemconcernknockimpugn

Examples from the Web for querying

Historical Examples

  • What else could be shown, I rebuked my nerves by querying of them; and turned the key.

    The Thing from the Lake

    Eleanor M. Ingram

  • Jack was querying, as he and old Fairfax sipped their five-o'clock "Manhattan."

    The Golden House

    Charles Dudley Warner

  • Clara, too; she was querying how much she should tell Thurstane; all of a sudden she was dreaming.

    Overland

    John William De Forest

  • He looked at her on a level, spiritually, querying as to who she might be.

    The Precipice

    Elia Wilkinson Peattie

  • Miss Munch was querying as Claire stepped into the dressing-room.

    The Blood Red Dawn

    Charles Caldwell Dobie

British Dictionary definitions for querying

query

noun plural -ries
  1. a question, esp one expressing doubt, uncertainty, or an objection
  2. a less common name for question mark
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verb -ries, -rying or -ried (tr)
  1. to express uncertainty, doubt, or an objection concerning (something)
  2. to express as a query"What's up now?" she queried
  3. US to put a question to (a person); ask
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Word Origin

C17: from earlier quere, from Latin quaere ask!, from quaerere to seek, inquire
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for querying

query

n.

1530s, quaere "a question," from Latin quaere "ask," imperative of quaerere "to seek, look for; strive, endeavor, strive to gain; ask, require, demand;" figuratively "seek mentally, seek to learn, make inquiry," probably ultimately from PIE *kwo-, root forming the stem of relative and interrogative pronouns (see who). Spelling Englished or altered c.1600 by influence of inquiry.

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query

v.

"to question," 1650s, from query (n.). Related: Queried; querying.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper