asking

verbadjectivenountop 1 000 in film dialogue

United Kingdom//ˈɑːskɪŋ//
United States//ˈæskɪŋ//
Scotland//ˈaskɪŋ//
//ˈeəskɪŋ//

That asks; that expresses a question or request.

verb

1
Also a form of askpresent participle of ask

Etymology

From Middle English askinge, askande, from Old English āsciende, from Proto-West Germanic *aiskōndī, present participle of Proto-West Germanic *aiskōn (“to ask”), equivalent to ask + -ing.

adjective

1
That asks; that expresses a question or request.
It was as when some great gentle dog brings in a limp and bedraggled prize dug from the yard and, laying it at one’s feet, looks up at one with soft asking eyes.
[…] all of them looked at each other in an asking way.
He stepped to me while taking purchase on the handrail and looked through me with an asking look; finally he added with a sardonic smile. "I know now that you feel; hatred coming from deep."

noun

1
The act or process of posing a question or making a request.
His asking was greeted with silence.
The large eyes sought his own, as if asking for help, and yet unable to do more than look their mute asking.
Form's silent asking, man's loving speech, the mute proclamation of the creature, are all gates leading into the presence of the Word.
If someone asks for love he will not get love, because the very asking makes him unlovely, ugly; the very fact of asking becomes the barrier.
2
rareA request, or petition.
After many askings, pleadings, and episodes, all leading to nothing, she finally slumped down at the side of a well in a village where she was unknown.
3
The marriage banns.

Etymology

From Middle English asking, askyng, askynge, from Old English āscung (“asking; question; inquiry”), from Proto-West Germanic *aiskungu, equivalent to ask + -ing.

Forms

plural: askings
comparative: more asking
superlative: most asking

Ask · The first male human, according to the Poetic Edda.asked · Arsed (bothered; willing to make an effort).Askin · A surname.

asking · That asks; that expresses a question or request.

asleep · In a state of sleep; also, broadly, resting.asparagus · Any of various perennial plants of the genus Asparagus having…aspect · Any specific feature, part, or element of something.

The neighbouring pages — Alphabetical order follows the rules of the language, not byte values: an accent decides only between two otherwise identical words, and Spanish files Ñ as a letter of its own.