question
Part of speech: noun
verb
Morphological type: simple
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.
Inflected forms:
form: questions
pos: noun
tags: plural
form: quæstion
pos: noun
tags: alternative
archaic
form: questions
pos: verb
tags: present
singular
third-person
form: questioning
pos: verb
tags: participle
present
form: questioned
pos: verb
tags: participle
past
form: questioned
pos: verb
tags: past
form: quæstion
pos: verb
tags: alternative
archaic
Senses:
gloss: A worded or expressed sentence, phrase, or only a word on its own, which asks for information, a reply, or a response; an interrogative.
pos: noun
examples: 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.
Can I ask you two a question? / Please, Christ, yes. / How can you two live like this? / How can... / Don't google the question, Moss!
When bodies change quickly or noticeably, assumptions often follow—and so does the desire to ask one potentially fraught question: Did medication play a role?
gloss: A subject or topic for consideration or investigation.
pos: noun
examples: The question of seniority will be discussed at the meeting.
There was a question of which material to use.
I've ordered it all, but there’s still the question of who’s going to pay.
The question of the plausibility of the counter-factual is seen as key in all three discussions of allohistorical fiction (as it is in Demandt's and Ferguson's examinations of allohistory) (cf. Rodiek 25–26; Ritter 15–16; Helbig 32).
gloss: A doubt or challenge about the truth, accuracy, or validity of a matter.
pos: noun
examples: His claim to the property has come under question.
The story is true beyond question.
He obeyed without question.
There was no question of his blaming me for his frustration.
There arose a question between some of John's disciples and the Jews about purifying.
It is to be to question, whether it be lawful for Christian princes or states to make an invasive war, only and simply for the propagation of the faith.
The pandemic has not only caused an immediate fall in ticket revenues for the world’s public transit networks—rail ridership in Barcelona, Moscow, Beijing and New York City at times plummeting 80%—in some cities it also has thrown into question the future of mass urban transportation.
gloss: A proposal to a meeting as a topic for deliberation.
pos: noun
examples: I move that the question be put to a vote.
gloss: Interrogation by torture.
pos: noun
tags: archaic
historical
with-definite-article
examples: 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.
gloss: Talk; conversation; speech.
pos: noun
tags: obsolete
examples: Made she no verbal question?
gloss: To ask questions of; to interrogate; to ask for information.
pos: verb
tags: transitive
examples: 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.
Another former resident noticed the car because it was new and upscale and no one ever came back to question him. This points to serious flaws in the investigation from the beginning.
gloss: To raise doubts about; have doubts about.
pos: verb
tags: transitive
examples: 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.
Isaacson reports that Musk’s fractured relationship with Jenna, who is trans, partly led to Musk’s rightward turn toward libertarianism and questioning what he considers the “woke-mind-virus, which is fundamentally antiscience, antimerit, and antihuman.”
gloss: To ask a question or questions; inquire or seek to know; examine.
pos: verb
tags: intransitive
examples: He that questioneth much shall learn much.
gloss: To argue; to converse; to dispute.
pos: verb
tags: intransitive
obsolete
examples: I pray you, think you question with the Jew.
Synonyms: frain
quaeritate
Related words: query
quest
answer
ask
interrogative
Derived words: $1,000,000 question
academic question
Adriatic Question
a question of
Armenian Question
Armenian question
ask a stupid question
ask the question
beggar the question
begging the question
beg the question
beyond question
binary question
bonus question
burning question
call into question
call the question
chicken and egg question
chicken-and-egg question
chicken-or-egg question
chicken or egg question
closed-ended question
closed question
close-ended question
complex question
counterquestion
Cripps question
cross-question
daft laddie question
direct question
doorknob question
double-barreled question
Eastern Question
Eastern question
elimination question
essay question
federal question
federal question jurisdiction
Fermi question
first-order question
frequently asked questions
FAQ
German Question
German question
good question
I have a question
indirect question
in question
inverted question mark
Irish Question
Irish question
it's a question of time
it's only a question of time
Jewish question
Jewish Question
Karelian question
Karelian Question
kitbag question
leading question
loaded question
metaquestion
midquestion
million dollar question
million-dollar question
multiple-choice question
national question
nonquestion
no question
no questions asked
open-ended question
open question
out of question
out of the question
polar question
Polish Question
pop the question
previous question
private notice question
pub quiz question
put the question to
questionable
questionary
question-begging
questionee
questionful
questionist
questionize
questionless
question mark
question master
question-master
questionnaire
question of fact
question of law
question of privilege
question of time
question period
questions and commands
question sheet
question stem
question tag
question time
questionwise
question word
requestion
reverse question
rhetorical question
Roman question
Roman Question
scaled question
Schleswig-Holstein Question
Schleswig-Holstein question
shoot first and ask questions later
sixty-four dollar question
sixty-four thousand dollar question
subquestion
tag question
tail question
there are no stupid questions
there are two sides to every question
there's no such thing as a stupid question
toss-up question
trick question
twenty questions
unquestionable
unquestionably
West Lothian question
WH-question
wh-question
wife-beating question
without question
yes/no question
yes-no question
yes-or-no question
question the question
outquestion
questionability
questioner
Translations: