Ask Definition

ăsk

asked, asking, asks

verb

asked, asking, asks

To put a question to.

When we realized that we didn't know the answer, we asked the teacher.

American Heritage

To use words in seeking the answer to (a question); try to find out about by inquiring.

Webster's New World

To request information.

Webster's New World

To seek an answer to.

Ask a question.

American Heritage

To put a question to (a person); inquire of.

Webster's New World

Synonyms:

Antonyms:

noun

An act or instance of asking.

Wiktionary

Something asked or asked for; a request.

Wiktionary

An asking price.

Wiktionary

(UK dialectal and Scotland) An eft; newt.

Wiktionary

(UK dialectal) A lizard.

Wiktionary

pronoun

(Norse mythology) The first male human, according to the Poetic Edda.

Wiktionary

idiom

ask for it

To persist in an action despite the likelihood that it will result in difficulty or punishment.

American Heritage

Idioms, Phrasal Verbs Related to Ask

From Middle English asken, from Old English āxian, āscian (“to ask, inquire, seek for, demand, call, summon, examine, observe”), from Proto-Germanic *aiskōną (“to ask, ask for”), from Proto-Indo-European *ayǝs- (“to look for”). Cognate with West Frisian easkje (“to require, postulate, demand”), Dutch eisen (“to demand, require”), German heischen (“to demand”), Danish æske (“to provoke”), Swedish äska (“to demand”), Russian искать (iskat', “to seek, look for”).

From Wiktionary
From Middle English aske, arske, from Old English āþexe (“lizard, newt”), from Proto-Germanic *agiþahsijǭ (“lizard”), from Proto-Germanic *agi- (“snake”) (from Proto-Indo-European *ogʷh- (“snake, lizard”)) + Proto-Germanic *þahsuz (“badger”) (from Proto-Indo-European *teḱs- (“to hew, trim”)). Cognate with Scots ask, awsk, esk (“an eft or newt”), Dutch hagedis (“lizard”), German Echse, Eidechse (“lizard”).

From Wiktionary
Middle English asken from Old English ācsian, āscian ais- in Indo-European roots

From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition