ASK FOR

Pronunciation (US): (GB):

I. (verb)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Express the need or desire for

Example:

when you call, always ask for Mary

Synonyms:

ask for; bespeak; call for; quest; request

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Hypernyms (to "ask for" is one way to...):

communicate; pass; pass along; pass on; put across (transmit information)

Verb group:

call for; invite (request the participation or presence of)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "ask for"):

book; hold; reserve (arrange for and reserve (something for someone else) in advance)

ask; ask out; invite out; take out (make a date)

call (call a meeting; invite or command to meet)

ask over; ask round; invite (invite someone to one's house)

arrogate; claim; lay claim (demand as being one's due or property; assert one's right or title to)

beg (ask to obtain free)

desire (express a desire for)

ask in; invite (ask to enter)

call for; invite (request the participation or presence of)

claim (ask for legally or make a legal claim to, as of debts, for example)

demand (ask to be informed of)

beg off; excuse (ask for permission to be released from an engagement)

challenge (ask for identification)

reserve (obtain or arrange (for oneself) in advance)

beg; solicit; tap (make a solicitation or entreaty for something; request urgently or persistently)

apply (ask (for something))

supplicate (ask for humbly or earnestly, as in prayer)

appeal; invoke (request earnestly (something from somebody); ask for aid or protection)

demand (request urgently and forcefully)

petition (write a petition for something to somebody; request formally and in writing)

encore (request an encore, from a performer)

ask (make a request or demand for something to somebody)

order (make a request for something)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody

Sense 2

Meaning:

Increase the likelihood of

Example:

invite criticism

Synonyms:

ask for; invite

Classified under:

Verbs of feeling

Hypernyms (to "ask for" is one way to...):

arouse; elicit; enkindle; evoke; fire; kindle; provoke; raise (call forth (emotions, feelings, and responses))

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Credits

Context examples:

Then he answered: “Then I ask for a fire, a turning lathe, and a cutting-board with the knife.”

(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)

"All the same," said the Scarecrow, "I shall ask for brains instead of a heart; for a fool would not know what to do with a heart if he had one."

(The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum)

We must not be nice and ask for all the virtues into the bargain.

(Emma, by Jane Austen)

“Get out of the shop! Oh, my lungs, get out of the shop! Oh, my eyes and limbs—goroo!—don't ask for money; make it an exchange.”

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

I hate to borrow as much as Mother does, and I knew Aunt March would croak, she always does, if you ask for a ninepence.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

But he did not ask for hope or encouragement.

(Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen)

Let me ask for this concession—boon, privilege, what you will.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

And Mr. Campbell was here at four o'clock to ask for you: he has got one of the Thrush's boats, and is going off to her at six, and hoped you would be here in time to go with him.

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)

Ask for and accept help.

(Alzheimer's Caregivers, NIH: National Institute on Aging)

Let me have the satisfaction of knowing that you are safe at Fullerton, and have found your family well, and then, till I can ask for your correspondence as I ought to do, I will not expect more.