query

Pluralqueries

Formsqueries, querying, queried

1. 1
   questionnouncountable

   A question, especially one asking for information or raising a doubt about something.

   The customer emailed a query regarding the missing shipment.

   Several queries about the new policy came in during the meeting.

   UsageUsually a query about something: raise, send or answer a query. It sounds more formal than question.

   Similarquestion, inquiry, enquiry, request

   Oppositeanswer, reply, response

   Note

   Behind the noun stands a Latin command: quaere, "seek!" or "ask!", the imperative of quaerō. English first took it as quere before reshaping the spelling, and question is a close relative. Emerson Hough's The Purchase Price (1910) writes "call into query," where most writers now say "call into question." The spelling split sits in its synonym: inquiry in the US, enquiry in the UK. Source

   Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 6 facts

   • Latin quaere means 'seek!' or 'ask!' and is the imperative of quaerō. en.wiktionary.org
   • Query is an anglicized form of the earlier quere. en.wiktionary.org
   • Question and query share the Latin source verb. en.wiktionary.org
   • Emerson Hough wrote The Purchase Price, published in 1910. gutenberg.org
   • The novel's narration contains the exact phrase 'call into query'. gutenberg.org
   • Inquiry and enquiry are synonyms of query associated respectively with American and British spelling. en.wiktionary.org
2. 2
   nouncountable

   A search request made up of one or more words, entered by typing or speech, that a search engine matches against web pages and other information.

   A vague query like "best phone" returns millions of results.

   More and more search queries are spoken to phones and smart speakers rather than typed.

   UsageCommon phrases: search query, type a query. In casual talk people just say a search.

   Similarsearch

   Note

   Close kin to the database meaning, but looser: a database query follows a strict syntax, while a search query is whatever a person types or says, often a fragment like "best phone" rather than a full question. Source

   Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

   • Database queries follow a formal syntax. postgresql.org
   • Search requests can be spoken and can consist of fragments rather than full questions. search.google
3. 3
   askverbtransitive

   To ask someone a question; to request information about something.

   Reporters queried the official about the budget cuts.

   Customers often query the support team when an order goes missing.

   UsageYou query someone about or on something. It is more formal than ask.

   Similarask, question, quiz, consult

   Oppositeanswer

4. 4
   database requestnouncountable

   A set of instructions passed to a database in order to retrieve information from it.

   The analyst wrote a query to pull last month's sales figures.

   Complex queries can take several seconds to return results.

   Note

   The database sense counts like any noun, with one query and many queries. It is typically written in a language such as SQL, and it attaches readily to other nouns. Query logging records database requests, which helps administrators trace faults. Here the word names the request itself, the thing written and executed. The action of sending one is the database verb. Source

   Checked 3 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

   • Database queries can be written in SQL to retrieve information. postgresql.org
   • Query logging records database requests and helps administrators investigate problems. postgresql.org
5. 5
   database requestverbtransitive

   To run a set of instructions against a database to retrieve the information wanted.

   The script queries the customer database every few minutes for new orders.

   Developers query the database to generate daily reports.

   Note

   Here the object is the store of data itself: a database, a table, a server. Luciano Floridi's Philosophy and Computing (1999) speaks of linked tables that "can be accessed, queried, combined and reorganised." That list sets query beside the other things one does to stored data. The verb names the action, and what gets written and sent is the database query itself. Source

   Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 3 facts

   • Luciano Floridi wrote Philosophy and Computing. cs.ox.ac.uk
   • Philosophy and Computing was first published in 1999. studyres.com
   • Floridi describes linked tables using the exact quoted wording. studyres.com
6. 6
   verbtransitive

   To call something into doubt; to challenge whether it is accurate or true.

   The auditor queried several entries in the company's accounts.

   Readers may query the author's claims about the study.

   UsageThe object is the claim or figure: query a decision, query the total.

   Similarquestion, challenge, dispute, doubt, contest

   Oppositeaccept, confirm, endorse

   Note

   Here the question is aimed at a claim rather than a person. In Margery Allingham's The China Governess (1962), a familiar-sounding story goes unchallenged: "No one queried it." By contrast, the asking sense takes the person questioned or the matter asked about. To query something in this sense is to ask for it to be justified. Source

   Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

   • Margery Allingham wrote The China Governess. en.wikipedia.org
   • The novel contains the exact narrative sentence “No one queried it,” referring to a familiar-sounding story that goes unchallenged. en.wiktionary.org
7. 7
   writer's pitchnounabbreviationellipsis

   Short for query letter: a letter in which a writer pitches a book or article to a literary agent or editor, asking them to consider it.

   The agent rejected her query within a day.

   A strong query can open doors with publishers.

   Note

   Publishing clips query letter down to query. The full term means the formal pitch a writer sends an editor, agent or publisher to propose a work. Michael Larsen's How to Get a Literary Agent (2006) contrasts email queries with mailed query letters, using the short form freely beside the long one. An agent who receives a query is reading a proposal, not a request for information. Source

   Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 3 facts

   • The publishing noun query is a shortened form of query letter. en.wiktionary.org
   • Michael Larsen wrote How to Get a Literary Agent. michaellarsen.wordpress.com
   • Larsen's book contrasts email queries with mailed query letters, using both forms together. en.wiktionary.org

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