ask

• aks, ax (alternative pronunciation until about 1600, now dialectal and no longer standard)
• aske (obsolete)
• aſk (obsolete)

• (UK)
  • (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈɑːsk/

    • Audio (UK)

      (file)

  • (Northern England, Scotland) IPA^(key): /ˈask/
  • (multicultural London also) IPA^(key): /ˈɑːks/
• (US)
  • (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈæsk/

    • Audio (US)

      (file)

  • (NYC, Philadelphia) IPA^(key): /eəsk/
  • (AAVE, Cajun, Nigeria, proscribed) enPR: ăks, IPA^(key): /ˈæks/
• Rhymes: -æsk, -ɑːsk
• Homophones: ax, axe (some dialects)

From Middle English asken (also esken, aschen, eschen, etc.), from Old English āscian, from Proto-West Germanic *aiskōn, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂eys- (“to wish; request”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian aaskje (“to ask, demand, require”), West Frisian easkje (“to ask, demand, require”), Dutch eisen (“to demand, require”), German heischen (“to ask, request, implore”), Russian иска́ть (iskátʹ), Sanskrit इच्छति (iccháti) (whence Hindi ईछना (īchnā).

ask (third-person singular simple present asks, present participle asking, simple past and past participle asked)

1. (transitive or ditransitive) To request (information, or an answer to a question).

   I asked her age.

   I asked her (for) her age.

2. To put forward (a question) to be answered.

   to ask a question

3. To interrogate or enquire of (a person).

   I'm going to ask this lady for directions.

   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, John 9:21:

     He is of age; ask him: he shall speak for himself.

4. To request or petition; usually with for.

   to ask for a second helping at dinner

   to ask for help with homework

   Emma asked Jim to close his eyes.

   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Matthew 7:7:

     Ask, and it shall be given you.

5. To request permission to do something.

   She asked to see the doctor.

   Did you ask to use the car?

6. To require, demand, claim, or expect, whether by way of remuneration or return, or as a matter of necessity.

   What price are you asking for the house?

   • 1705, J[oseph] Addison, Remarks on Several Parts of Italy, &c. in the Years 1701, 1702, 1703, London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC:

     But in any Exigence of State, like that they are now pressed with, it certainly asks a much longer time to conduct any Design, for the Good of the Common-wealth, to its Maturity and Perfection.

7. To invite.

   Don't ask them to the wedding.

8. To publish in church for marriage; said of both the banns and the persons.
9. (figuratively) To take (a person's situation) as an example.
   • 1990 April 26, Paul Wiseman, “Dark days”, in USA Today:

     Even when the damage isn't that clear cut, the intangible burdens of a bad image can add up. Just ask Dow Chemical.

• This is a catenative verb that takes the to infinitive. See Appendix:English catenative verbs
• Pronouncing ask as /æks/ or /ɑːks/ is a common example of metathesis (attested since the Old English period) and still common in some varieties of English, notably African American Vernacular English (AAVE) and Multicultural London English (MLE).
• The action expressed by the verb ask can also be expressed by the noun-verb combination pose a question.
• In older forms of English, when the pronoun thou was in active use, and verbs used -est for distinct second-person singular indicative forms, the verb ask had the form askest, and had askedst for its past tense.
• Similarly, when the ending -eth was in active use for third-person singular present indicative forms, the form asketh was used.

• beg, beseech, demand, enquire, entreat, frain, implore, interrogate, petition, prompt, query, question, request, solicit, supplicate

ask (plural asks)

1. An act or instance of asking.
   • 2005, Laura Fredricks, The ask:

     To ask for a gift is a privilege, a wonderful expression of commitment to and ownership of the organization. Getting a yes to an ask can be a rush, but asking for the gift can and should be just as rewarding.

   • 2022 December 14, Christian Wolmar, “No Marston Vale line trains... and no one in charge seems to 'give a damn'”, in RAIL, number 972, page 46:

     That really does not seem much of an ask.

2. Something asked or asked for.

   Synonym: request

   I know this is a big ask, but …

   • 2008, Doug Fields, Duffy Robbins, Speaking to Teenagers:

     Communication researchers call this the foot-in-the-door syndrome. Essentially it's based on the observation that people who respond positively to a small “ask” are more likely to respond to a bigger “ask” later on.

3. An asking price.
4. (Internet) A message sent to a blog on social networking platform Tumblr, which can be publicly posted and replied to by the recipient.
   • 2017, Abigail Oakley, “Supporting one another: Nonbinary community building on Tumblr”, in Isabel K. Düsterhöft, Paul G. Nixon, editors, Sex in the Digital Age, unnumbered page:

     Answering 'asks' like this is one common way that Tumblr bloggers interact with their followers, so it is in the act of publicly answering these asks that I examine community building practices.

   • 2018, Lynette Kvasny, Fay Cobb Payton, “African American Youth Tumbling Toward Mental Health Support-Seeking and Positive Academic Outcomes”, in Amanda Ochsner, William G. Tierney, Zoë B. Corwin, editors, Diversifying Digital Learning: Online Literacy and Educational Opportunity‎, page 168:

     The following example from Black Mental Health illustrates an ask from an anonymous follower seeking social support: […]

   • 2020, Lee Brown, “Behind the Scenes of a Popular Trans Youth Resources Tumblr”, in Alexander Cho, Allison McCracken, Indira N. Hoch, Louisa Stein, editors, A Tumblr Book: Platforms and Cultures‎, page 265:

     Once the number of unanswered Asks in the inbox was over eight thousand, despite us deleting everything accumulated in the inbox once a year.

   • For more quotations using this term, see Citations:ask.

• bid-ask spread
• big ask
• tough ask

From Middle English aske, arske, ascre, from Old English āþexe (“lizard, newt”), from Proto-West Germanic *agiþahsijā (“lizard”), a compound of *agiz (“snake, lizard”) + *þahsuz (“badger”). Cognate of German Echse (“lizard”).

• asker, ascar, askerd, askard

ask (plural asks)

1. (UK dialectal and Scotland) An eft; newt.
   • 1876, S. Smiles, Scottish Naturalist:

     He looked at the beast. It was not an eel. It was very like an ask.

2. (UK dialectal) A lizard.
   • 1951, Malcolm Arthur Smith, The British Amphibians & Reptiles, page 258:

     We hear of Adder dens, but detailed accounts of the discovery of one are very rare. Service (1902) records that a peatman, when levelling on an estate by the Solway, found in a hole in the ground, some 8 inches below the surface, 40 adders, 10 toads and a large number of asks (lizards).

• AKs, KAs, KSA, SAK, SKA, aks, kas, ska

From Old Norse askr, from Proto-Germanic *askaz.

• IPA^(key): /ask/

ask c (singular definite asken, plural indefinite aske)

1. ash tree (Fraxinus spp.), especially, common ash (tree, Fraxinus excelsior)

• “ask” in Den Danske Ordbog

• askur m

From Old Norse askr, from Proto-Germanic *askaz, *askiz.

• IPA^(key): /ask/

ask f (genitive singular askar, plural askir)

1. ash tree
2. ash wood

ask

1. indefinite accusative singular of askur

• asik

Ultimately derived from Proto-Indo-European *h₂eḱ-. Confer Persian آهو (âhu).

• IPA^(key): /ɑːsk/

ask f (Arabic spelling ئاسک)

1. gazelle
2. deer

• Chyet, Michael L. (2020) “ask”, in Ferhenga Birûskî: Kurmanji–English Dictionary (Language Series; 1), volume 1, London: Transnational Press, page 14

From Old Norse askr, from Proto-Germanic *askaz.

ask m (definite singular asken, indefinite plural asker, definite plural askene)

1. European ash (ash tree) Fraxinus excelsior

• “ask” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

From Old Norse askr, from Proto-Germanic *askaz. Akin to English ash.

• IPA^(key): /ɑsk/

ask m (definite singular asken, indefinite plural askar, definite plural askane)

1. European ash (ash tree) Fraxinus excelsior

• “ask” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

ask

1. accusative singular of askr

From Proto-West Germanic *ask.

• IPA^(key): /ɑs̺k/

ask m

1. ash tree
2. spear

• Middle Low German: esk
  • Plautdietsch: Asch

From Old Swedish asker, from Old Norse askr, from Proto-Germanic *askaz, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ōs- (“ash”).

• audio

  (file)

ask c

1. European ash (tree) Fraxinus excelsior
2. a small box (with a loose lid)

   Synonyms: låda, skrin

• → Finnish: aski

• ask in Svensk ordbok.

• sak, ska