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asking

English · Thesaurus

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asking¹

  • /ˈæskɪŋ/ US
  • /ˈɑːskɪŋ/ UK
  • /ˈaskɪŋ/ Northern England, Scotland
  • /ˈeəskɪŋ/ New York City, Philadelphia
  • /ˈæksɪŋ/

Where it comes from

From Middle English askinge, askande, from Old English āsciende, from Proto-West Germanic *aiskōndī, present participle of Proto-West Germanic *aiskōn (“to ask”), equivalent to ask + -ing.

verb

  1. participle, present present participle of ask

adjective more asking · most asking

  1. That asks; that expresses a question or request. It was as when some great gentle dog brings in a limp and bedraggled prize dug from the yard and, laying it at one’s feet, looks up at one with soft asking eyes.

asking²

  • /ˈæskɪŋ/ US
  • /ˈɑːskɪŋ/ UK
  • /ˈaskɪŋ/ Northern England, Scotland
  • /ˈeəskɪŋ/ New York City, Philadelphia
  • /ˈæksɪŋ/

Where it comes from

From Middle English asking, askyng, askynge, from Old English āscung (“asking; question; inquiry”), from Proto-West Germanic *aiskungu, equivalent to ask + -ing.

noun askings

  1. countable, uncountable The act or process of posing a question or making a request. His asking was greeted with silence.
  2. countable, rare, singular, uncountable A request, or petition. After many askings, pleadings, and episodes, all leading to nothing, she finally slumped down at the side of a well in a village where she was unknown.
  3. countable, in plural, uncountable The marriage banns.

Thesaurus

Closest in meaning: interrogative, request, interrogatory, inquiring, questioning, question, require, requiring, solicit, demand, invite, doing, soliciting, seeking, poser, seek

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Cite this
MLA

"asking." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/asking. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

asking. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/asking

Chicago

"asking." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/asking.

BibTeX
@misc{asking_2026,
  title = {asking},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/asking},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}