ask

verb

1. 1

   To request or petition. To request (information, or an answer to a question).

   I asked her age.

   I didn't know the answer so I asked.

   Everyone always asks what my advice is, and my advice is don’t overintellectualize your art.

2. 2

   To request or petition. To request or enquire of (a person).

   I asked her (for) her age.

   I’m going to ask this lady (for) directions.

   If you want to know, ask her.

   Ask him that he tell her —No need to, she'll already know by know.

3. 3

   To request or petition. To request (an item or service) (see also ask for).

   to ask for a second helping at dinner

   to ask for help with homework

   to ask a favour

   If you want help, you only have to ask.

4. 4

   To request or petition. To request (someone to do something).

   Emma asked Jim to close his eyes.

5. 5

   To request or petition. To request permission (to do something).

   She asked to see the doctor.

   Did you ask to use the car?

6. 6

   To put forward (a question) to be answered.

   to ask a question

   to ask a riddle

   He is of age; ask him: he shall speak for himself.

7. 7

   To require, demand, claim, or expect, whether by way of remuneration or return, or as a matter of necessity.

   What price are you asking for the house?

   It’s asking a lot of this old car to make it all the way up to Scotland.

   But in any Exigence of State, like that they are now pressed with, it certainly asks a much longer time to conduct any Design, for the Good of the Common-wealth, to its Maturity and Perfection.

8. 8

   To invite.

   Don’t ask them to the wedding.

9. 9

   figurativeTo indirectly encourage or make more likely (an undesirable outcome).

   Walking around with such an expensive watch is asking to be mugged.

10. 10

    To publish in church for marriage; said of both the banns and the persons.

11. 11

    figurativeTo take (a person's situation) as an example.

    Even when the damage isn't that clear cut, the intangible burdens of a bad image can add up. Just ask Dow Chemical.

noun

1. 1

   informalAn act or instance of asking.

   To ask for a gift is a privilege, a wonderful expression of commitment to and ownership of the organization. Getting a yes to an ask can be a rush, but asking for the gift can and should be just as rewarding.

   That really does not seem much of an ask.

2. 2

   informalSomething asked or asked for.

   I know this is a big ask, but …

   Communication researchers call this the foot-in-the-door syndrome. Essentially it's based on the observation that people who respond positively to a small “ask” are more likely to respond to a bigger “ask” later on.

3. 3

   informalAn asking price.

   The buy prices are a bit higher than the sell prices; the difference between the buy/sell is called bid/ask spread. If you are selling a stock, you’ll get the bid price; if you are buying a stock, you’ll get the ask price.

4. 4

   informalA message sent to a blog on social networking platform Tumblr, which can be publicly posted and replied to by the recipient.

   Answering 'asks' like this is one common way that Tumblr bloggers interact with their followers, so it is in the act of publicly answering these asks that I examine community building practices.

   The following example from Black Mental Health illustrates an ask from an anonymous follower seeking social support: […]

   Once the number of unanswered Asks in the inbox was over eight thousand, despite us deleting everything accumulated in the inbox once a year.

noun

1. 1

   informalAn eft; newt.

   He looked at the beast. It was not an eel. It was very like an ask.

2. 2

   informalA lizard.

   We hear of Adder dens, but detailed accounts of the discovery of one are very rare. Service (1902) records that a peatman, when levelling on an estate by the Solway, found in a hole in the ground, some 8 inches below the surface, 40 adders, 10 toads and a large number of asks (lizards).

Forms

plural

asks

past tense

asked

past participle

asked

present participle

asking

third person singular

asks