Ask vs Importune - What's the difference?
ask | importune | Related terms |
To request (information, or an answer to a question).
To put forward (a question) to be answered.
To interrogate or enquire of (a person).
* Bible, John ix. 21
To request or petition; usually with for .
* Bible, Matthew vii. 7
To require, demand, claim, or expect, whether by way of remuneration or return, or as a matter of necessity.
* Addison
To invite.
To publish in church for marriage; said of both the banns and the persons.
(figuratively) To take (a person's situation) as an example.
*
An act or instance of asking.
* 2005 , Laura Fredricks, The ask :
Something asked or asked for; a request.
* 2008 , Doug Fields, Duffy Robbins, Speaking to Teenagers :
An asking price.
An eft; newt.
* 1876 , S. Smiles, Scottish Naturalist :
A lizard.
To bother, trouble, irritate.
* , II.17:
To harass with persistent requests.
* 1610 , , act 2 scene 1
* Jonathan Swift
To approach to offer one's services as a prostitute, or otherwise make improper proposals.
(obsolete) To import; to signify.
* Spenser
(obsolete) Grievous, severe, exacting.
* 1590 , Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene , II.vi:
(obsolete) inopportune; unseasonable
(obsolete) troublesome; vexatious; persistent
* Spenser
* Francis Bacon
Ask is a related term of importune.
As a noun ask
is amplitude shift keying.As a verb importune is
.ask
English
Etymology 1
From (etyl) asken, from (etyl) .Verb
(en verb)- I asked her age.
- to ask a question
- I'm going to ask this lady for directions.
- He is of age; ask him: he shall speak for himself.
- to ask for a second helping at dinner
- to ask for help with homework
- Ask , and it shall be given you.
- What price are you asking for the house?
- An exigence of state asks a much longer time to conduct a design to maturity.
- Don't ask them to the wedding.
- (Fuller)
Usage notes
* This is a catenative verb that takes the to infinitive . See * Pronouncing ask as /æks/ is a common example of metathesis and a feature of 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'' (confer the parallel in German between ''fragen'' and ''eine Frage stellen ).Derived terms
* ask after * ask around * ask for * ask in * ask out * ask over * ask round * for the asking * no questions asked * outaskNoun
(en noun)- To ask for a gift is a privilege, a wonderful expression of commitment to and ownership of the organization. Getting a yes to an ask can be a rush, but asking for the gift can and should be just as rewarding.
- 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.
Etymology 2
From (etyl) aske, arske, from (etyl) .Alternative forms
*Noun
(en noun)- He looked at the beast. It was not an eel. It was very like an ask .
Statistics
*importune
English
Verb
(importun)- To deliberate, be it but in slight matters, doth importune me.
- You were kneel'd to, and importun'd otherwise / By all of us;.
- Their ministers and residents here have perpetually importuned the court with unreasonable demands.
- It importunes death.
Adjective
(en adjective)- And therewithall he fiercely at him flew, / And with importune outrage him assayld [...].
- And their importune fates all satisfied.
- Of all other affections it [envy] is the most importune and continual.