Library / English Dictionary

ASK

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Make a request or demand for something to somebody

Example:

She asked him for a loan

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Hypernyms (to "ask" is one way to...):

ask for; bespeak; call for; quest; request (express the need or desire for)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "ask"):

request (ask (a person) to do something)

solicit (make a solicitation or petition for something desired)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something from somebody
Somebody ----s somebody to INFINITIVE
Somebody ----s that CLAUSE
Somebody ----s to INFINITIVE

Sentence example:

They ask him to write the letter

Also:

ask in (ask to enter)

ask out (make a date)

ask over; ask round (invite someone to one's house)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Consider obligatory; request and expect

Example:

I expect my students to arrive in time for their lessons

Synonyms:

ask; expect; require

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Hypernyms (to "ask" is one way to...):

demand (request urgently and forcefully)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "ask"):

call (require the presentation of for redemption before maturation)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something from somebody
Somebody ----s somebody to INFINITIVE

Sentence example:

They ask him to write the letter

Sense 3

Meaning:

Direct or put; seek an answer to

Example:

ask a question

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Hypernyms (to "ask" is one way to...):

articulate; formulate; give voice; phrase; word (put into words or an expression)

Verb group:

ask; enquire; inquire (address a question to and expect an answer from)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

asker (someone who asks a question)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Address a question to and expect an answer from

Example:

He had to ask directions several times

Synonyms:

ask; enquire; inquire

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Hypernyms (to "ask" is one way to...):

communicate; intercommunicate (transmit thoughts or feelings)

Verb group:

ask (direct or put; seek an answer to)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "ask"):

pry (be nosey)

query; question (pose a question)

interrogate; question (pose a series of questions to)

confer with; consult (get or ask advice from)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s somebody
Somebody ----s somebody something
Somebody ----s somebody PP
Somebody ----s PP
Somebody ----s whether INFINITIVE

Sentence example:

They ask them the information

Derivation:

asker (someone who asks a question)

Sense 5

Meaning:

Require or ask for as a price or condition

Example:

The kidnappers are asking a million dollars in return for the release of their hostage

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Hypernyms (to "ask" is one way to...):

demand (request urgently and forcefully)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Sense 6

Meaning:

Make a date

Example:

He asekd me to a dance

Synonyms:

ask; ask out; invite out; take out

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Hypernyms (to "ask" is one way to...):

ask for; bespeak; call for; quest; request (express the need or desire for)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s somebody

Sense 7

Meaning:

Require as useful, just, or proper

Example:

This intervention does not postulate a patient's consent

Synonyms:

ask; call for; demand; involve; necessitate; need; postulate; require; take

Classified under:

Verbs of being, having, spatial relations

Verb group:

claim; exact; take (take as an undesirable consequence of some event or state of affairs)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "ask"):

claim; exact; take (take as an undesirable consequence of some event or state of affairs)

govern (require to be in a certain grammatical case, voice, or mood)

draw (require a specified depth for floating)

cost (require to lose, suffer, or sacrifice)

cry for; cry out for (need badly or desperately)

compel (necessitate or exact)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s something

Credits

 Context examples: 

“You have a clue?” asked Gregson.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

I asked myself; and then, with another bound of terror—how was it to be remedied?

(The Strange Case Of Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

“Who can vouch for this thing?” he asked.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

“Whom think you that it is from, Anson?” she asked.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

An indication that a question was asked and the response is unknown.

(Asked but Unknown, NCI Thesaurus)

The patient is given a chance to ask questions about what will happen during the trial, why it’s being done, and what they will be asked to do.

(Assent process, NCI Dictionary)

This is also a good chance to ask your health care provider any questions about how to care for your baby.

(Baby Health Checkup, NIH)

If you are having a surgery that you're able to schedule months in advance, your doctor may ask whether you would like to use your own blood, instead of donated blood.

(Blood Transfusion and Donation, NIH: National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute)

A question asking an individual to state the current time, to within 1 hour.

(About What Time is it, NCI Thesaurus)

Study participants also were given definitions of 20 little-used words and 20 easy words, and asked to produce the corresponding word.

(Exercise May Help Seniors with Word, Memory Problems, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)