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Secure vs Ask - What's the difference?

secure | ask |

As an adjective secure

is free from attack or danger; protected.

As a verb secure

is to make safe; to relieve from apprehensions of, or exposure to, danger; to guard; to protect.

As a noun ask is

amplitude shift keying.

secure

English

Alternative forms

* secuer (obsolete)

Adjective

(en-adj)
  • Free from attack or danger; protected.
  • Free from the danger of theft; safe.
  • Free from the risk of eavesdropping, interception or discovery; secret.
  • Free from anxiety or doubt; unafraid.
  • * Dryden
  • But thou, secure of soul, unbent with woes.
  • Firm and not likely to fail; stable.
  • Free from the risk of financial loss; reliable.
  • Confident in opinion; not entertaining, or not having reason to entertain, doubt; certain; sure; commonly used with of .
  • secure of a welcome
  • * Milton
  • Confidence then bore thee on, secure / Either to meet no danger, or to find / Matter of glorious trial.
  • Overconfident; incautious; careless.
  • (Macaulay)

    Antonyms

    * insecure

    Derived terms

    * securely

    Verb

    (secur)
  • To make safe; to relieve from apprehensions of, or exposure to, danger; to guard; to protect.
  • * Dryden
  • I spread a cloud before the victor's sight, / Sustained the vanquished, and secured his flight.
  • To put beyond hazard of losing or of not receiving; to make certain; to assure; frequently with against'' or ''from'', or formerly with ''of .
  • to secure''' a creditor against loss; to '''secure a debt by a mortgage
  • * T. Dick
  • It secures its possessor of eternal happiness.
  • To make fast; to close or confine effectually; to render incapable of getting loose or escaping.
  • to secure''' a prisoner; to '''secure a door, or the hatches of a ship
  • To get possession of; to make oneself secure of; to acquire certainly.
  • to secure an estate
  • * 2014 , Jamie Jackson, " Ángel di María says Manchester United were the ‘only club’ after Real", The Guardian , 26 August 2014:
  • With the Argentinian secured United will step up their attempt to sign a midfielder and, possibly, a defender in the closing days of the transfer window. Juventus’s Arturo Vidal, Milan’s Nigel de Jong and Ajax’s Daley Blind, who is also a left-sided defensive player, are potential targets.
    "[Captain] was able to secure some good photographs of the fortress." (Flight, 1911, p. 766)
  • * , chapter=3
  • , title= The Mirror and the Lamp , passage=One saint's day in mid-term a certain newly appointed suffragan-bishop came to the school chapel, and there preached on “The Inner Life.”  He at once secured attention by his informal method, and when presently the coughing of Jarvis […] interrupted the sermon, he altogether captivated his audience with a remark about cough lozenges being cheap and easily procurable.}}

    Anagrams

    * ----

    ask

    English

    Etymology 1

    From (etyl) asken, from (etyl) .

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To request (information, or an answer to a question).
  • I asked her age.
  • To put forward (a question) to be answered.
  • to ask a question
  • To interrogate or enquire of (a person).
  • I'm going to ask this lady for directions.
  • * Bible, John ix. 21
  • He is of age; ask him: he shall speak for himself.
  • To request or petition; usually with for .
  • to ask for a second helping at dinner
    to ask for help with homework
  • * Bible, Matthew vii. 7
  • Ask , and it shall be given you.
  • To require, demand, claim, or expect, whether by way of remuneration or return, or as a matter of necessity.
  • What price are you asking for the house?
  • * Addison
  • An exigence of state asks a much longer time to conduct a design to maturity.
  • To invite.
  • Don't ask them to the wedding.
  • To publish in church for marriage; said of both the banns and the persons.
  • (Fuller)
  • (figuratively) To take (a person's situation) as an example.
  • *
  • 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 * outask

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • An act or instance of asking.
  • * 2005 , Laura Fredricks, The ask :
  • 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.
  • Something asked or asked for; a 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 (etyl) aske, arske, from (etyl) .

    Alternative forms

    *

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • An eft; newt.
  • * 1876 , S. Smiles, Scottish Naturalist :
  • He looked at the beast. It was not an eel. It was very like an ask .
  • A lizard.
  • Statistics

    *