Definition of "ask"

ask¹

/ˈɑːsk/

verb
third-person singular simple present asks, present participle asking, simple past and past participle asked
1. (transitive or ditransitive) To request (information, or an answer to a question).
2. To put forward (a question) to be answered.
3. To interrogate or enquire of (a person).
  Quotations
  He is of age; ask him: he shall speak for himself.
  1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], John 9:21
4. To request or petition; usually with for.
  Quotations
  Ask, and it shall be given you.
  1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], Matthew 7:7
5. To request permission to do something.
6. To require, demand, claim, or expect, whether by way of remuneration or return, or as a matter of necessity.
  Quotations
  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.
  1705, J[oseph] Addison, Remarks on Several Parts of Italy, &c. in the Years 1701, 1702, 1703, London: […] Jacob Tonson, […]
7. To invite.
8. To publish in church for marriage; said of both the banns and the persons.
9. (figuratively) To take (a person's situation) as an example.
  Quotations
  Even when the damage isn't that clear cut, the intangible burdens of a bad image can add up. Just ask Dow Chemical.
  1990 April 26, Paul Wiseman, “Dark days”, in USA Today
noun
plural asks
1. An act or instance of asking.
  Quotations
  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.
  2005, Laura Fredricks, The ask
  That really does not seem much of an ask.
  2022 December 14, Christian Wolmar, “No Marston Vale line trains... and no one in charge seems to 'give a damn'”, in RAIL, number 972, page 46
2. Something asked or asked for.
  Quotations
  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.
  2008, Doug Fields, Duffy Robbins, Speaking to Teenagers
3. An asking price.
4. (Internet) A message sent to a blog on social networking platform Tumblr, which can be publicly posted and replied to by the recipient.
  Quotations
  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.
  2017, Abigail Oakley, “Supporting one another: Nonbinary community building on Tumblr”, in Isabel K. Düsterhöft, Paul G. Nixon, editors, Sex in the Digital Age, unnumbered page
  The following example from Black Mental Health illustrates an ask from an anonymous follower seeking social support: […]
  2018, Lynette Kvasny, Fay Cobb Payton, “African American Youth Tumbling Toward Mental Health Support-Seeking and Positive Academic Outcomes”, in Amanda Ochsner, William G. Tierney, Zoë B. Corwin, editors, Diversifying Digital Learning: Online Literacy and Educational Opportunity‎, page 168
  Once the number of unanswered Asks in the inbox was over eight thousand, despite us deleting everything accumulated in the inbox once a year.
  2020, Lee Brown, “Behind the Scenes of a Popular Trans Youth Resources Tumblr”, in Alexander Cho, Allison McCracken, Indira N. Hoch, Louisa Stein, editors, A Tumblr Book: Platforms and Cultures‎, page 265

ask²

/ˈɑːsk/

noun
plural asks
1. (UK dialectal and Scotland) An eft; newt.
  Quotations
  He looked at the beast. It was not an eel. It was very like an ask.
  1876, S. Smiles, Scottish Naturalist
2. (UK dialectal) A lizard.
  Quotations
  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).
  1951, Malcolm Arthur Smith, The British Amphibians & Reptiles, page 258

Definition of "ask"

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