DictionaryAI

question

KWES-chuhn/ˈkwɛs.tʃən/

Pluralquestions

Verbquestions, questioning, questioned

8 meanings of question

Practice

  1. 1
    something askednouncountable
    A sentence, phrase, or single word that asks for information, a reply, or a response.

    She raised her hand to ask a difficult question.

    The reporter's questions made the politician visibly uncomfortable.

    UsageYou ask a question (not incorrect: make a question) and answer one. Questions are about something: a question about the homework.

    Similarquery, inquiry, enquiry

    Oppositeanswer, reply, response

  2. 2
    issuenouncountable
    A matter or subject that needs to be discussed, decided, or investigated, including a proposal put to a meeting for a vote.

    The committee turned to the question of funding for next year.

    Economists have long studied the question of inflation.

    UsageOften the question of + a noun or a wh- clause: the question of who pays. Out of the question means impossible.

    Similarissue, matter, subject, topic, problem

  3. 3
    cast doubt onverbtransitive
    To raise or have doubts about the truth, accuracy, or correctness of something.

    Investors question whether the company can survive another year.

    Critics questioned the accuracy of the official report.

    UsageUse a noun phrase or a whether clause: question his honesty, question whether it can work.

    Similardoubt, challenge, dispute, query, contest

    Oppositeaccept, believe, trust

    Note

    Frank Herbert, speaking at UCLA in 1985, made it a writer's method: questioning the assumptions everybody knows are true. With a person, the object decides the meaning. Questioning a witness is interrogation; questioning a witness's account is doubt.

    Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

    • Frank Herbert spoke at UCLA in 1985. en.wikipedia.org
    • In that talk, Herbert described questioning supposedly true assumptions as something he enjoyed doing when writing. en.wiktionary.org
  4. 4
    verbtransitive
    To ask someone questions, especially officially or in detail, in order to find something out.

    Detectives question witnesses to piece together what happened.

    The committee questioned the minister for several hours.

    UsageThe person follows directly, and the topic takes about: police questioned the driver about the crash.

    Similarinterrogate, interview, quiz, examine

    Note

    The verb goes back to Middle English questionen. It came partly from Middle French questionner and partly from the English noun itself, which traces through Old French to Latin quaestio, meaning a seeking or inquiry, from quaerere, to seek or ask.

    Checked 3 Nov 2026 · 5 facts

  5. 5
    nouncountable or uncountable
    Uncertainty about something's truth, accuracy, or validity, or an objection that calls any of these into doubt.

    The lawyer raised a serious question about the validity of the contract.

    There remains a real question over the accuracy of the data.

    UsageFixed phrases: beyond question and no question mean certain; without question can also mean without hesitation; call into question.

    Similardoubt, uncertainty, query, dispute

    Oppositecertainty

    Note

    Older English could also use the word for an open dispute between people: the King James Bible of 1611 has a question arising between John's disciples and the Jews about purifying.

    Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

    • The King James Bible was first published in 1611. wwwe.lib.cam.ac.uk
    • John 3:25 uses 'question' for a dispute between some of John's disciples and the Jews about purifying. en.wikisource.org

Less common meanings

  1. 6
    torturenounarchaichistoricalwith the
    Interrogation carried out by means of torture.

    The accused heretic was subjected to the question before the tribunal.

    The Scottish privy council had power to put state prisoners to the question.
    1849, Thomas Babington Macaulay, The History of England from the Accession of James the Second
    Note

    The phrase belongs to the era when torture was a lawful part of interrogation, and it almost always takes the definite article: a prisoner was put to the question or brought to the question. Macaulay uses it of the Scottish privy council's power over state prisoners. In Smollett's The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle (1751), a man recants after being brought to it a second time. Today it lives only in historical writing.

    Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 5 facts

    • The historical expression refers to torture used in officially authorized interrogation. gutenberg.org
    • The torture sense chiefly takes the definite article. en.wiktionary.org
    • Macaulay uses 'put ... to the question' when describing the Scottish Privy Council's power over state prisoners. gutenberg.org
    • Tobias Smollett wrote The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle, first published in 1751. en.wikipedia.org
    • A male character in the novel recounts recanting when brought to the question for the second time. gutenberg.org
  2. 7
    nounobsolete
    Talk, conversation, or speech generally.
    Made she no verbal question?
    c. 1603, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of King Lear”
    Note

    Shakespeare could use the noun simply for talk. In King Lear, "Made she no verbal question?" asks whether she said anything at all, not whether she asked something. The sense is obsolete, so a reader of older texts should not hear inquiry in it. The matching verb sense carries the same broad idea of talking together.

    Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 5 facts

  3. 8
    verbobsoleteintransitive
    To argue, converse, or dispute with another.
    I pray you, think you question with the Jew.
    c. 1596, William Shakespeare, “The Merchant of Venice”
    Note

    Shakespeare uses this verb for talking a matter out, not for asking. In The Merchant of Venice, "think you question with the Jew" means "remember whom you are arguing with." The preposition with is the giveaway that marks this obsolete sense off from the modern interrogating verb, which takes its person directly.

    Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 5 facts

    • Shakespeare used question as a verb meaning argue or converse. en.wiktionary.org
    • The quoted words occur in Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice, spoken by Antonio in Act 4, scene 1. gutenberg.org
    • Antonio reminds Bassanio that he is arguing with Shylock. gutenberg.org
    • The obsolete conversational sense uses question with a person in this example. en.wiktionary.org
    • The interrogating sense takes the person as a direct object. en.wiktionary.org

Practice

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Origins

Meanings 1–2, 5–7

It entered Middle English via Anglo-Norman and Old French question, from Latin quaestiō ("a seeking, investigation, inquiry"), from quaerere ("to seek, ask, inquire"). The ultimate origin is uncertain, but it possibly goes back to a Proto-Indo-European root meaning "to acquire." It is related to English quest and partly displaced the native Old English word āscung.

Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 6 facts

  • The word entered Middle English through Anglo-Norman and Old French, ultimately from Latin quaestiō. en.wiktionary.org
  • Latin quaestiō meant seeking, investigation, or inquiry. kaikki.org
  • Quaestiō derives from quaerere, meaning to seek, ask, or inquire. en.wiktionary.org
  • The ultimate origin is uncertain; a proposed source is a Proto-Indo-European root meaning to acquire. en.wiktionary.org
  • Question is etymologically related to English quest. en.wiktionary.org
  • Question partly displaced the native Old English word āscung. kaikki.org
Meanings 3–4, 8

The verb comes from Middle English questionen, which grew partly out of the noun question and partly out of the Middle French verb questionner.

Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 3 facts