asking
noun
No English definition recorded for this entry.
L316491 on Wikidata ↗Wiktionary
Pronunciation: /ˈæskɪŋ/ / /ˈɑːskɪŋ/ / /ˈaskɪŋ/
adj
Etymology: 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.
- 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.”
“[…] all of them looked at each other in an asking way.”
noun
Etymology: From Middle English asking, askyng, askynge, from Old English āscung (“asking; question; inquiry”), from Proto-West Germanic *aiskungu, equivalent to ask + -ing.
- The act or process of posing a question or making a request.
“His asking was greeted with silence.”
“The large eyes sought his own, as if asking for help, and yet unable to do more than look their mute asking.”
- 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.”
- The marriage banns.
verb
Etymology: 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.
- present participle of ask