asking

English

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈæskɪŋ/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈɑːskɪŋ/
• (Northern England, Scotland) IPA^(key): /ˈaskɪŋ/
• (NYC, Philadelphia) IPA^(key): /ˈeəskɪŋ/
• (AAVE) IPA^(key): /ˈæksɪŋ/

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Etymology 1

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

asking

1. present participle of ask

Adjective

asking (comparative more asking, superlative most asking)

1. That asks; that expresses a question or request.
   • 1924, Edna Ferber, So Big‎^[1], New York: Grosset & Dunlap, page 109:

     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.

   • 1942, Zora Neale Hurston, chapter 12, in Dust Tracks on a Road‎^[2], New York: Arno Press and The New York Times, published 1969, page 235:

     […] all of them looked at each other in an asking way.

   • 2015, Agnes Toth, The Guardian of Power, page 124:

     He stepped to me while taking purchase on the handrail and looked through me with an asking look; finally he added with a sardonic smile. "I know now that you feel; hatred coming from deep."

Derived terms

• askingly
• asking price
• unasking

 

Etymology 2

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

Noun

asking (countable and uncountable, plural askings)

1. The act or process of posing a question or making a request.

   His asking was greeted with silence.

   • 1837, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], “An Evening Alone”, in Ethel Churchill: Or, The Two Brides. […], volume I, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, page 303:

     The large eyes sought his own, as if asking for help, and yet unable to do more than look their mute asking.

   • 1923, Martin Buber, I and Thou:

     Form's silent asking, man's loving speech, the mute proclamation of the creature, are all gates leading into the presence of the Word.

   • 2023, Osho, Meditation: The Art of Ecstasy, page 89:

     If someone asks for love he will not get love, because the very asking makes him unlovely, ugly; the very fact of asking becomes the barrier.

2. (rare in the singular) A request, or petition.
   • 2005, Beth Miller, The Woman's Book of Resilience: 12 Qualities to Cultivate, page 125:

     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. (in the plural) The marriage banns.

Usage notes

• Normally found in plural, or in set phrases such as for the asking or time of asking.

Anagrams

• Gaskin, Sikang, aksing, gaskin, kiangs

Middle English

Noun

asking

1. Alternative form of askynge