asking

English

From Middle English askinge, askande, from Old English āsciende, from Proto-West Germanic *aiskōndī, present participle of Proto-West Germanic *aiskōn (“to ask”), equivalent to ask +‎ -ing.

asking

asking (comparative more asking, superlative most asking)

That asks; that expresses a question or request.
- 1924, Edna Ferber, So Big‎, New York: Grosset & Dunlap, page 109:
  It was as when some great gentle dog brings in a limp and bedraggled prize dug from the yard and, laying it at one’s feet, looks up at one with soft asking eyes.
- 1942, Zora Neale Hurston, chapter 12, in Dust Tracks on a Road‎, New York: Arno Press and The New York Times, published 1969, page 235:
  […] all of them looked at each other in an asking way.

From Middle English asking, askyng, askynge, from Old English āscung (“asking; question; inquiry”), from Proto-West Germanic *aiskungu, equivalent to ask +‎ -ing.

asking (countable and uncountable, plural askings)

The act or process of posing a question or making a request.
His asking was greeted with silence.
- 1837, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], “An Evening Alone”, in Ethel Churchill: Or, The Two Brides. […], volume I, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, page 303:
  The large eyes sought his own, as if asking for help, and yet unable to do more than look their mute asking.
(rare in the singular) A request, or petition.
- 2005, Beth Miller, The Woman's Book of Resilience: 12 Qualities to Cultivate, page 125:
  After many askings, pleadings, and episodes, all leading to nothing, she finally slumped down at the side of a well in a village where she was unknown.
(in the plural) The marriage banns.

Normally found in plural, or in set phrases such as for the asking or time of asking.

asking

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