question
verb
- to have doubts, be suspicious or dubious
- ask a question, inquire
- ask a question of a listener
noun
- linguistic expression used to make a request for information, or the request made
- doubt, act of regarding as dubious
- out-of-the-question
Wiktionary
Pronunciation: /ˈkwɛs.tʃən/ / /ˈkwɛs.tjən/ / /ˈkwɛʃ.tʃən/
noun
Etymology: From Middle English questioun, from Anglo-Norman questiun, from Old French question, from Latin quaestiōnem, accusative of quaestiō (“a seeking, investigation, inquiry, question”), from quaerere (“to seek, ask, inquire”), of uncertain origin, but possibly from Proto-Italic *kʷaizeō, from Proto-Indo-European *kʷeh₂- (“to acquire”). Partially displaced native Old English āscung. Compare also Middle Low German quēstie (“questioning; inquiry”), Middle High German questje (“question”). Cognates include English quest.
- A worded or expressed sentence, phrase, or only a word on its own, which asks for information, a reply, or a response; an interrogative.
“What is your question?”
“I told him about everything I could think of; and what I couldn't think of he did. He asked about six questions during my yarn, but every question had a point to it. At the end he bowed and thanked me once more. As a thanker he was main-truck high; I never see anybody so polite.”
- A subject or topic for consideration or investigation.
“The question of seniority will be discussed at the meeting.”
“There was a question of which material to use.”
- A doubt or challenge about the truth, accuracy, or validity of a matter.
“His claim to the property has come under question.”
“The story is true beyond question.”
- A proposal to a meeting as a topic for deliberation.
“I move that the question be put to a vote.”
- Interrogation by torture.
“I, not at all ambitious of the crown of martyrdom, resolved to temporize: so that, when I was brought to the question the second time, I made a solemn recantation […]”
“The Scottish privy council had power to put state prisoners to the question.”
- Talk; conversation; speech.
“Made she no verbal question?”
verb
Etymology: From Middle English questionen, questyonen, partly from Middle French questionner and partly from the noun.
- To ask questions of; to interrogate; to ask for information.
“Yet he lingered in Perryville with the determination of seeing Ruth, and questioning her about Helen Murray's letters.”
“However, a Carlisle newspaper got hold of the story, and at the half-yearly meeting of the Caledonian Railway Company, held on March 17, 1863, a shareholder, Mr. Meiklem, questioned the Chairman, Lt.-Col. Salkeld, regarding a "Chase of Engines," described in the newspaper article. The Chairman admitted that the statements made in the article were perfectly true.”
- To raise doubts about; have doubts about.
“Question things. I have the most fun when I'm writing questioning things that people do not question- the assumptions that everybody knows are true.”
“He questioned South Korean claims that China is a major source of its pollution.”
- To ask a question or questions; inquire or seek to know; examine.
“He that questioneth much shall learn much.”
- To argue; to converse; to dispute.
“I pray you, think you question with the Jew.”