Ask in Scrabble Dictionary

Valid words made from Ask

You can make 5 words from 'ask' in our Scrabble US and Canada dictionary.

• 3 letters words from 'ask'
• 2 letters words from 'ask'

3 letters words from 'ask'

ASK 7	KAS 7
SKA 7

2 letters words from 'ask'

AS 2

KA 6

Definitions and meaning of ask

ask

Alternative forms

• aks, ax (standard until about 1600, now dialectal and no longer standard)

Pronunciation

• (UK)
  • (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈɑːsk/
  • (Northern England, Scotland) IPA^(key): /ˈask/
  • (multicultural London also) IPA^(key): /ˈɑːks/
• (US)
  • (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈæsk/
  • (NYC, Philadelphia) IPA^(key): /eəsk/
  • (AAVE, Cajun, Nigeria) enPR: ăks, IPA^(key): /ˈæks/
• Rhymes: -ɑːsk, -æsk
• Homophones: ax, axe (some dialects)

Etymology 1

From Middle English asken (also esken, aschen, eschen, etc.), from Old English āscian, from Proto-West Germanic *aiskōn, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂eys- (“to wish; request”), German eischen.

Verb

ask (third-person singular simple present asks, present participle asking, simple past and past participle asked)

1. (transitive or ditransitive) To request (information, or an answer to a question).

2. To put forward (a question) to be answered.

3. To interrogate or enquire of (a person).

   • He is of age; ask him: he shall speak for himself.

4. To request or petition; usually with for.

   • Ask, and it shall be given you.

5. To request permission to do something.

6. To require, demand, claim, or expect, whether by way of remuneration or return, or as a matter of necessity.

   • But in any Exigence of State, like that they are now pressed with, it certainly asks a much longer time to conduct any Design, for the Good of the Common-wealth, to its Maturity and Perfection.

7. To invite.

8. To publish in church for marriage; said of both the banns and the persons.
   • (Can we find and add a quotation of Fuller to this entry?)
9. (figuratively) To take (a person's situation) as an example.

Usage notes

• This is a catenative verb that takes the to infinitive. See Appendix:English catenative verbs
• Pronouncing ask as /æks/ is a common example of metathesis (attested since the Old English period) and still common in some varieties of English, notably African American Vernacular English (AAVE).
• The action expressed by the verb ask can also be expressed by the noun-verb combination pose a question.
• In older forms of English, when the pronoun thou was in active use, and verbs used -est for distinct second-person singular indicative forms, the verb ask had the form askest, and had askedst for its past tense.
• Similarly, when the ending -eth was in active use for third-person singular present indicative forms, the form asketh was used.

Hyponyms

• beg, beseech, demand, enquire, entreat, frain, implore, interrogate, petition, prompt, query, question, request, solicit, supplicate

Derived terms

Translations

Noun

ask (plural asks)

1. An act or instance of asking.
2. Something asked or asked for.

   Synonym: request

   • 2008, Doug Fields, Duffy Robbins, Speaking to Teenagers:

     Communication researchers call this the foot-in-the-door syndrome. Essentially it's based on the observation that people who respond positively to a small “ask” are more likely to respond to a bigger “ask” later on.

3. An asking price.

Etymology 2

From Middle English aske, arske, from Old English āþexe (“lizard, newt”), from Proto-West Germanic *agiþahsijā (“lizard”), a compound of *agiz (“snake, lizard”) + *þahsuz (“badger”). Cognate of German Echse (“lizard”).

Alternative forms

• asker, ascar, askerd, askard

Noun

ask (plural asks)

1. (Britain dialectal and Scotland) An eft; newt.
2. (Britain dialectal) A lizard.
   • 1951, Malcolm Arthur Smith, The British Amphibians & Reptiles (page 258)

     We hear of Adder dens, but detailed accounts of the discovery of one are very rare. Service (1902) records that a peatman, when levelling on an estate by the Solway, found in a hole in the ground, some 8 inches below the surface, 40 adders, 10 toads and a large number of asks (lizards).

Anagrams

• AKs, KAs, KSA, SAK, SKA, aks, kas, ska

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Danish

Etymology

From Old Norse askr, from Proto-Germanic *askaz.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ask/

Noun

ask c (singular definite asken, plural indefinite aske)

1. common ash (tree, Fraxinus excelsior)

Declension

References

• “ask” in Den Danske Ordbog

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Faroese

Alternative forms

• askur m

Etymology

From Old Norse askr, from Proto-Germanic *askaz, *askiz.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ask/

Noun

ask f (genitive singular askar, plural askir)

1. ash tree
2. ash wood

Declension

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Icelandic

Noun

ask

1. indefinite accusative singular of askur

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Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology

From Old Norse askr, from Proto-Germanic *askaz.

Noun

ask m (definite singular asken, indefinite plural asker, definite plural askene)

1. the European ash (ash tree) Fraxinus excelsior

References

• “ask” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

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Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology

From Old Norse askr, from Proto-Germanic *askaz. Akin to English ash.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɑsk/

Noun

ask m (definite singular asken, indefinite plural askar, definite plural askane)

1. the European ash (ash tree) Fraxinus excelsior

References

• “ask” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

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Old Saxon

Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *askaz, *askiz.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɑs̺k/

Noun

ask m

1. ash tree
2. spear

Declension

Descendants

• Middle Low German: esk
  • Plautdietsch: Asch

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Swedish

Etymology

From Old Swedish asker, from Old Norse askr, from Proto-Germanic *askaz, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ōs- (“ash”).

Pronunciation

Noun

ask c

1. the European ash (tree) Fraxinus excelsior
2. a small box

   Synonyms: låda, skrin

Declension

Descendants

• → Finnish: aski

Anagrams

• sak, ska

Source: wiktionary.org

• to inquire or request.
  (source: Collins Scrabble Dictionary)