question
Forms
- Plural
- questions
- present (v1)
- question
- past (v2)
- questioned
- past participle (v3)
- questioned
- present participle
- questioning
- 3rd person singular
- questions
Definitions
1.A worded or expressed sentence, phrase, or only a word on its own, which asks for information, a reply, or a response; an interrogative.
- 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?
- 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!
2.A subject or topic for consideration or investigation.
- There was a question of which material to use.
- The question of seniority will be discussed at the meeting.
- I've ordered it all, but there’s still the question of who’s going to pay.
3.A doubt or challenge about the truth, accuracy, or validity of a matter.
- The story is true beyond question.
- His claim to the property has come under question.
- There was no question of his blaming me for his frustration.
4.A proposal to a meeting as a topic for deliberation.
- I move that the question be put to a vote.
1.To raise doubts about; have doubts about.
- He questioned South Korean claims that China is a major source of its pollution.
- 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.
2.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.
- 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.
3.To ask a question or questions; inquire or seek to know; examine.
- He that questioneth much shall learn much.
Frequency
Overall
Very common· #206
By learning goal
- Everyday conversation
- Common
- General reading & writing
- Very common
- Academic
- Common
- Literature
- Uncommon
Related words
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”).