ask
Pluralasks
- 1To put a question to someone, or say or write a question, in order to get information or an answer.
Why don't you ask what happened?
He called the store to ask when his order would arrive.
UsageIndirect questions keep statement order: ask what happened, asked where she lived (not
incorrect: asked where did she live).Similarinquire, question, query
Oppositeanswer
- 2To say that you want someone to do something or to give you something, often followed by for, as in ask for a raise.
Did they ask you to sign anything?
She plans to ask her manager for a raise after the review.
UsageAsk someone to do something, or ask for a thing; in the passive, we were asked to leave.
- 3To seek someone's consent or leave before doing something.
Children should ask to leave the table.
He asked to be excused from the meeting.
UsageFollowed by to + verb or permission: asked to leave early, ask permission to use the car.
Similarrequest
- 4To invite someone to come to an occasion or place.
Shall we ask the Smiths to dinner?
He was asked to every party in the county.
UsageAsk someone to an event: ask them to dinner; ask someone out means invite them on a date.
Similarinvite
- 5To require, demand or expect, as payment or as a matter of necessity.
The job asks a great deal of anyone who takes it.
You cannot ask more of a beginner.
UsageCommon in ask a lot of someone, ask too much of someone, and the asking price.
Similardemand, require, expect
Note
Here the subject is often a seller or a situation, not a questioner: a price is asked for a house, and a long trip asks a lot of an old car. Addison in 1705 could write that a design "asks a much longer time," where today one would say takes or requires.
Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 2 facts
- Joseph Addison's Remarks on Several Parts of Italy was first published in 1705. esf.ccarh.org
- Addison used the quoted phrase about the time needed to conduct a design to completion. en.wiktionary.org
Less common meanings
- 6
- 7A request, or the act of asking for something, especially for money or support; a big ask is a lot to expect of someone.
The union's main ask was a shorter week.
Their asks were reasonable and the council agreed.
UsageCommon in fundraising, campaigning and business: our key asks, the main ask.
Similarrequest, demand, appeal
Note
Persuasion researchers use the word too, observing that someone who grants a small ask is likelier to grant a bigger one later.
Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 2 facts
- Researchers discussing persuasion use the noun ask for small and large requests. karger.com
- Research supports increased compliance with a larger request after compliance with a smaller one, known as the foot-in-the-door effect. web.mit.edu
- 8Used to point to a person or group whose experience or expert knowledge would confirm what has just been said.
Rushing a launch costs more later, ask any engineer.
A bad review can sink a restaurant, just ask the owner.
UsageMost often just ask + a person or group after a claim: just ask the owner, ask any engineer.
Note
A rhetorical imperative in which nobody is expected to ask anything. Just ask Dow Chemical means that the company's experience proves the point. The figure borrows asking someone a question directly: the reader is invited to imagine the conversation rather than actually have it.
Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 1 fact
- The example “Just ask Dow Chemical” invokes the company's experience as evidence for a preceding claim. en.wiktionary.org
- 9To publish in church for marriage, said both of the banns and of the couple.
Similarpublish
- 10On Tumblr, a message sent to a blog, which the recipient can post and reply to publicly.
- 11In Scottish and other British dialects, a newt or eft, or a lizard.
He looked at the beast. It was not an eel. It was very like an ask.
1876, S. Smiles, Scottish Naturalist
Showing meanings only.
More uses
- ask for troubleto act in a way that is likely to cause problems for yourself
Practice
Can you tell the meanings of ask apart? Answer 3 quick questions from this page, or write your own sentence and AI will check it.
Origin
From Middle English asken, from Old English āscian, from Proto-West Germanic *aiskōn, ultimately from the Proto-Indo-European root *h₂eys- ("to wish; request"). It is related to Dutch eisen ("to demand"), German heischen ("to ask, implore"), and Sanskrit iccháti.
Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 5 facts
- Ask descends through Middle English asken and Old English āscian from Proto-West Germanic *aiskōn. en.wiktionary.org
- Its ultimate root is Proto-Indo-European *h₂eys-, meaning to wish or request. en.wiktionary.org
- Dutch eisen is related and means to demand. en.wiktionary.org
- German heischen is related and means to ask or implore. en.wiktionary.org
- Sanskrit iccháti is related through the same Indo-European root. en.wiktionary.org