different between ask vs attract
ask
English
Alternative forms
- aks, ax (standard until about 1600, now dialectal and no longer standard)
Pronunciation
- (UK)
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /???sk/
- (Northern England, Scotland) IPA(key): /?ask/
- (multicultural London also) IPA(key): /???ks/
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /???sk/
- (US)
- (General American) IPA(key): /?æsk/
- (NYC, Philadelphia) IPA(key): /e?sk/
- (AAVE, Cajun, Nigeria) enPR: ?ks, IPA(key): /?æks/
- (General American) IPA(key): /?æsk/
- Rhymes: -??sk, -æsk
- Homophones: ax, axe (some dialects)
Etymology 1
From Middle English asken (also esken, aschen, eschen, etc.), from Old English ?scian, from Proto-West Germanic *aisk?n, from Proto-Indo-European *h?eys- (“to wish; request”), German eischen.
Verb
ask (third-person singular simple present asks, present participle asking, simple past and past participle asked)
- (transitive or ditransitive) To request (information, or an answer to a question).
- To put forward (a question) to be answered.
- To interrogate or enquire of (a person).
- He is of age; ask him: he shall speak for himself.
- To request or petition; usually with for.
- Ask, and it shall be given you.
- To request permission to do something.
- 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.
- To invite.
- 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?)
- (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)
- An act or instance of asking.
- 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.
- An asking price.
Etymology 2
From Middle English aske, arske, from Old English ?þexe (“lizard, newt”), from Proto-West Germanic *agiþahsij? (“lizard”), a compound of *agiz (“snake, lizard”) + *þahsuz (“badger”). Cognate of German Echse (“lizard”).
Alternative forms
- asker, ascar, askerd, askard
Noun
ask (plural asks)
- (Britain dialectal and Scotland) An eft; newt.
- (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).
- 1951, Malcolm Arthur Smith, The British Amphibians & Reptiles (page 258)
Anagrams
- AKs, KAs, KSA, SKA, aks, kas, ska
Danish
Etymology
From Old Norse askr, from Proto-Germanic *askaz.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ask/
Noun
ask c (singular definite asken, plural indefinite aske)
- common ash (tree, Fraxinus excelsior)
Declension
References
- “ask” in Den Danske Ordbog
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)
- ash tree
- ash wood
Declension
Icelandic
Noun
ask
- indefinite accusative singular of askur
Norwegian Bokmål
Etymology
From Old Norse askr, from Proto-Germanic *askaz.
Noun
ask m (definite singular asken, indefinite plural asker, definite plural askene)
- the European ash (ash tree) Fraxinus excelsior
References
- “ask” in The Bokmål Dictionary.
Norwegian Nynorsk
Etymology
From Old Norse askr, from Proto-Germanic *askaz. Akin to English ash.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /?sk/
Noun
ask m (definite singular asken, indefinite plural askar, definite plural askane)
- the European ash (ash tree) Fraxinus excelsior
References
- “ask” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.
Old Saxon
Etymology
From Proto-Germanic *askaz, *askiz.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /?s?k/
Noun
ask m
- ash tree
- spear
Declension
Descendants
- Middle Low German: esk
- Plautdietsch: Asch
Swedish
Etymology
From Old Swedish asker, from Old Norse askr, from Proto-Germanic *askaz, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *?s- (“ash”).
Pronunciation
Noun
ask c
- the European ash (tree) Fraxinus excelsior
- a small box
- Synonyms: låda, skrin
Declension
Descendants
- ? Finnish: aski
Anagrams
- sak, ska
ask From the web:
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- what asks a question
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- what asks a lot of questions
attract
English
Etymology
From Latin attractus, past participle of attrahere (“to draw to, attract”), from ad (“to”) + trahere (“to draw”).
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /??t?ækt/
- Rhymes: -ækt
Verb
attract (third-person singular simple present attracts, present participle attracting, simple past and past participle attracted)
- To pull toward without touching.
- 1713, William Derham, Physico-Theology
- All bodies, and all the parts of bodies, mutually attract themselves, and one another.
- 1713, William Derham, Physico-Theology
- To arouse interest.
- To draw by moral, emotional or sexual influence; to engage or fix, as the mind, attention, etc.; to invite or allure.
Synonyms
- allure
Antonyms
- repel
Related terms
Translations
Further reading
- attract in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
- attract in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
- attract at OneLook Dictionary Search
attract From the web:
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- what attracts a pisces man
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