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Ask   Listen
verb
Ask  v. i.  
1.
To request or petition; usually followed by for; as, to ask for bread. "Ask, and it shall be given you."
2.
To make inquiry, or seek by request; sometimes followed by after. "Wherefore... dost ask after my name?"






Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48








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"Ask" Quotes from Famous Books



... resistance by the Spaniards, with muskets, pikes, stones, and swords; but through all these the pirates fought their way, till they gained the castle. The Spaniards, who remained alive, cast themselves down from the castle into the sea, choosing rather to die thus (few or none surviving the fall) than to ask quarter for their lives. The governor himself retreated to the corps du gard, before which were placed two pieces of cannon: here he still defended himself, not demanding any quarter, till he was killed with a ...
— The Pirates of Panama • A. O. (Alexandre Olivier) Exquemelin

... all night and the next morning, as if a real rendezvous were awaiting him. Would she go? Was not her promise a mere whim that she had immediately forgotten? He sent a note to an ex-minister of State, whose portrait he was painting, to ask him not to come to the studio that afternoon, and after luncheon he got into a cab, telling the cabby to beat the horse, to go full speed, ...
— Woman Triumphant - (La Maja Desnuda) • Vicente Blasco Ibanez

... "Ask, else, these ruins of humanity, This flesh worn out to rags and tatters, This soul at struggle with insanity, Who thence take comfort, can I doubt, Which an empire gained, were ...
— A Dish Of Orts • George MacDonald

... Sligo, eh? Well, well! I never heard of a square-rigger discharging there—must see about th' charts. Ask them to repeat, Mister, and ...
— The Brassbounder - A Tale of the Sea • David W. Bone

... scaffold. I am of the sex whose duty it is to be patient. My father is so good at heart, gentler possibly, in his true self, than is my mother. She indeed, absorbed in her political ambitions, often turns from me with a harshness that accords ill with mother-love. It is my fate to endure this life. Ask yourself, dear friend, how could I trust to a chance adventurous stranger whom my brother sends to me from out of his wild, artistic circle in Rheinsberg—sends to me to be my knight and paladin? Such a thought could have ...
— The German Classics of The Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries, Vol. VII. • Various

... "you're one of God's noblemen; she told me so once, but I didn't imagine then that I'd ever own up to it myself. It can't be done, though; she can't marry a man in disgrace—I can't ask a woman to marry me on nothing; and, besides, there's the matter of those infernal bonds. I can't clear that up, and keep ...
— Romance of California Life • John Habberton

... of our existence, we must admit many circumstances which come to our knowledge at the same time, and in the same manner; and which do, in reality, constitute the mode of our being. Every peasant will tell us, that a man hath his rights; and that to trespass on those rights is injustice. If we ask him farther, what he means by the term right? we probably force him to substitute a less significant, or less proper term, in the place of this; or require him to account for what is an original ...
— An Essay on the History of Civil Society, Eighth Edition • Adam Ferguson, L.L.D.

... comes to the worst," he found himself saying at last, "I can give up what they want. But what do they want? And why don't they ask me for it instead ...
— The Sleeper Awakes - A Revised Edition of When the Sleeper Wakes • H.G. Wells

... lay that night in bed looking out at the stars Heidi said, "I have been thinking all day what a happy thing it is that God does not give us what we ask for, even when we pray and pray and pray, if He knows there is something better for us; have you ...
— Heidi • Johanna Spyri

... are come to smooth the road for you. It is our trade; look, we have our tools with us! Give us but leave and we will work for you gladly, and ask ...
— The Silver Crown - Another Book of Fables • Laura E. Richards

... but there is much that I want to ask you. May I come in? The cab will wait for me." And then, as Fern guided him up the narrow staircase, she told him that her mother was out—an evening class had detained her; and she had been thankful that this had been ...
— Wee Wifie • Rosa Nouchette Carey

... that night, with the shades drawn close and the only light the light of the dancing fire, this woman who, for the first time, knew herself to be a woman, did not dream of a life on the other side of those doors at which she must ask admittance. She dreamed of a future beyond the old, old, door that has stood open ...
— Their Yesterdays • Harold Bell Wright

... becoming rage, Then countries stolen, and captives unrestored, Give strength to every blow, and edge his sword. 140 Behold with what resistless force he falls On towns besieged, and thunders at thy walls! Ask Villeroy, for Villeroy beheld The town surrendered, and the treaty seal'd, With what amazing strength the forts were won, Whilst the whole power of France stood looking on. But stop not here: behold where Berkley stands, ...
— The Poetical Works of Addison; Gay's Fables; and Somerville's Chase • Joseph Addison, John Gay, William Sommerville

... and sweethearts of soldiers and wives of soldiers bound for the front or coming home. And there we were, the only Americans in the house, with just enough French to order "des oeufs" and coffee "au lait" and "ros bif and jambon and pain" and to ask how much and then make them say it slowly and stick the sum up on their fingers. We were having engine trouble. And our car was groaning and coughing and muttering in the gloomy little court of the inn. Around ...
— The Martial Adventures of Henry and Me • William Allen White

... fierce frown covered the man's face, as he said angrily, "Boy, curiosity is a bad thing—anywise, it's bad here. I've brought you to this cave 'cause you'd ha' died i' the woods if I hadn't. Don't ask questions about what ...
— The Wild Man of the West - A Tale of the Rocky Mountains • R.M. Ballantyne

... front of. delegacion, f., delegation. deleitado,-a, delighted. deleitarse, to delight. deleite, m., to delight, pleasure. deletrear, to spell. delgado,-a, thin, lean. delicado,-a, delicate. demandar, to demand; ask. demasiado,-a, excessive. demasiado, adv., too much, too, excessively. demonio, m., devil. demostrar, (ue), to show; prove. denso,-a, dense, thick; heavy. dentro, within; inside. derecho,-a, straight; right. derecho, m., right. derribar, to break down. desaliento, m., ...
— A First Spanish Reader • Erwin W. Roessler and Alfred Remy

... him how mighty glad you are to be quitting the prison I'd condemned you to, and the joy it's going to hand you to see his darnation Teuton face again. Sure I'll send it. It's the least I can do to make up to you for those things I've done to you. But—but for God's sake don't ask me to ...
— The Man in the Twilight • Ridgwell Cullum

... girl; ay, of cowardly gossip about me and my sweetheart, Capt. Brewster, now confined in prison because he hath loved me, a lass without polities or adherence to the cause—as if 'twere necessary every lad should ask the confidence or permission of yourself or, belike, my Lady Washington, in ...
— Thankful Blossom • Bret Harte

... trade,' he said once to Harvey Rolfe; 'it's clean and sweet and useful. The Socialist would revile me as a middleman; but society can't do without me just yet, and I ask no more than I fairly earn. I like turning over a sample of grain; I like the touch of it, and the smell of it. It brings me near to the good old Mother Earth, ...
— The Whirlpool • George Gissing

... answered him and spake: "Noble son of Menoitios, dear to my heart, now methinks that the Achaians will stand in prayer about my knees, for need no longer tolerable cometh upon them. But go now, Patroklos dear to Zeus, and ask Nestor who is this that he bringeth wounded from the war. Verily from behind he is most like Machaon, that child of Asklepios, but I beheld not the eyes of the man, for the horses sped ...
— The Iliad of Homer • Homer (Lang, Leaf, Myers trans.)

... as various as the fair world. No one appeared to care to live, but no one complained; all who could speak, said that as much was done for them as could be done there, that the attendance was kind and patient, that their suffering was very heavy, but they had nothing to ask for. The wretched rooms were as clean and sweet as it is possible for such rooms to be; they would become a pest-house in a single week, if ...
— The Uncommercial Traveller • Charles Dickens

... the Five Points from nine o'clock until midnight, staggering under their heavy harps, those who have not made up the required sum sobbing bitterly in anticipation of the treatment in store for them. Give them a penny or two, should they ask it, reader. You will not miss it. It will go to the brutal parent or taskmaster, it is true, but it will give the little monkey-faced minstrel a supper, and save him from a beating. It is more to them ...
— Lights and Shadows of New York Life - or, the Sights and Sensations of the Great City • James D. McCabe

... respect the promise given to my uncle, while I devoted myself to a project that had fixed itself in my mind—a project full of romance and imagination, one that might make me wealthy—in a position wherein I could laugh at Garcia's pretensions and boldly ask my uncle's consent, for I was hopeful of obtaining Lilla's. I was poor now, but need not remain so. Suppose by one grand stroke I could possess myself of the riches of ...
— The Golden Magnet • George Manville Fenn

... not forget, even at such a time, that he is a soldier, and he is scouting the country far and wide. Moreover, it is his intention to ask the Rev. Dr. Williams to be here to-morrow evening, and a few friends also. I trust that by that time your perverse mood will pass away, and that you will unite with your kindred in their ...
— Miss Lou • E. P. Roe

... you ask do not admit of a precise answer. The rate of exchange ought by no means to be under four fifths; indeed I could wish that it were higher, and am not without hopes of raising it; but that must depend on circumstances, which I cannot command. ...
— The Diplomatic Correspondence of the American Revolution, Vol. XI • Various

... case of the Real Contract, from the delivery of the Res or Thing which was the subject of the preliminary engagement. The contracting parties came, in short, to an understanding in each case; but, if they went no further, they were not obliged to one another, and could not compel performance or ask redress for a breach of faith. But let them comply with certain prescribed formalities, and the Contract was immediately complete, taking its name from the particular form which it had suited them to adopt. The exceptions to this practice will ...
— Ancient Law - Its Connection to the History of Early Society • Sir Henry James Sumner Maine

... not tell what; so, to clear out of this pandemonium as soon as possible I issued cloths to buy double rations, intending to cross the wilderness by successive relays in double the ordinary number of days. I determined at the same time to send forward two freed men to Kaze to ask Musa and the Arabs to send me out some provisions and men to meet ...
— The Discovery of the Source of the Nile • John Hanning Speke

... Godin des Odonais had completed his work, toward the end of the year 1759, he left Quito and started for Cayenne. Once arrived in this town he wanted his family to come to him, but war had been declared, and he was obliged to ask the Portuguese government for permission for a free passage for Madame Odonais and her people. What do you think? Many years passed before the permission could be given. In 1765 Godin des Odonais, maddened by the delay, resolved to ascend the Amazon in search of his wife at Quito; ...
— Eight Hundred Leagues on the Amazon • Jules Verne

... ye not remember the things which the Lord hath said?—If ye will not harden your hearts, and ask me in faith, believing that ye shall receive, with diligence in keeping my commandments, surely these things shall be made known ...
— The Book Of Mormon - An Account Written By The Hand Of Mormon Upon Plates Taken - From The Plates Of Nephi • Anonymous

... a gray-headed officer of soldierly bearing, bowed low to this compliment from the Governor. "I ask the Count de Lusignan," continued the Governor, "what he thinks would result from our withdrawing the garrison from Carillon, as is ...
— The Golden Dog - Le Chien d'Or • William Kirby

... few steps she returned to the gates and called him: "I forgot to ask do you want me to regard what you've told me as confidential? I was thinking of telling Martha and Hugo, and it occurred to me that you might not ...
— The Conflict • David Graham Phillips

... subtle satisfaction in watching them, is because they seem so confident that their own way of doing things is, for them at least, the best way. They let themselves go, on the air, in the water, over the hills, among the trees, and do not ask for admiration or correction from people who are differently built. The sea-gulls flying over a busy port of commerce, or floating at ease on the discoloured, choppy, churned-up waves ...
— Days Off - And Other Digressions • Henry Van Dyke

... himself, he remained obstenately silent. about an hour after we had encamped Drewyer returned from hunting we sent him to the Twisted hair to make some enquiries relative to our horses and saddles and to ask him to come and smoke with us. The Twisted hair accepted the invitation and came to our fire. The twisted hair informed us that accordingly to the promis he had made us when he seperated from us at the falls of the Columbia he collected our horses on his return and took charge of ...
— The Journals of Lewis and Clark • Meriwether Lewis et al

... the lake head she did not know. But on the face of it she could not avoid wondering if Monohan had deliberately set out to cross and harass Jack Fyfe. Because of her? That was the question which had hovered on her lips that evening, one she had not brought herself to ask. Because of her, or because of some enmity that far preceded her? She had thought him big enough to do as she had done, as Fyfe was tacitly doing,—make the ...
— Big Timber - A Story of the Northwest • Bertrand W. Sinclair

... ideal match is secured. Some of us are almost glad that Juliet passed away in swift fashion when the cup of life foamed most exquisitely at her lips. How would she have fared had that changeable firebrand Romeo taken to wandering once more? It is a grievously flippant question to ask when the most glorious of all love-poems is in question; yet I ask it very seriously, and merely in a symbolic way. Romeo is a shadow, the adored Juliet is a shadow; but the two immortal shades represent for all time the mad lovers whose lives end in bitterness. ...
— Side Lights • James Runciman

... explanation of the way these elements have originated can be discovered by the comparative student of religion, who describes also how they have variously evolved among different peoples. In all of this we have not questioned at any time the validity or reality of any one of these concepts; to ask whether or not they correspond actually to the truth is beyond our purpose, which is simply and solely to inquire whether even these mental conceptions furnish evidence of their evolution in the course ...
— The Doctrine of Evolution - Its Basis and Its Scope • Henry Edward Crampton

... ask you how you are, Miss Hampden," Arthur Campbell began, sinking down carelessly into his seat, ...
— The Doctor's Daughter • "Vera"

... private conference with him immediately. Mr. Lincoln cooly turned to me and said, 'Mr. ——, can you call again?' Bother his impudence, I say, to keep me listening to his jokes for two hours, and then ask me to call again!" ...
— Perley's Reminiscences, Vol. 1-2 - of Sixty Years in the National Metropolis • Benjamin Perley Poore

... moments, and then said, resolutely: "I will keep as near to you as I can. I ask no pay for my services. On the contrary, I will employ my useless wealth in providing for exposed hospitals. When I attempt to take care of the sick or wounded, I will act scrupulously under the orders of the surgeon ...
— His Sombre Rivals • E. P. Roe

... this anger! Mules is five hundred dollars a span, and every identical mule my poor boy had has been gobbled up by the red man. I knew when my Reginald staggered into the door-yard that he was on the Die, but if I'd only thunk to ask him about them mules ere his gentle spirit took flight, it would have been four thousand dollars in OUR pockets, and NO mistake! Excuse those real tears, but you've never ...
— The Complete Works of Artemus Ward, Part 3 • Charles Farrar Browne

... I feel satisfied you are well and happy," resumed Mrs. Ormonde, who had never put a single question respecting herself to Katherine, "there are one or two things I wanted to ask you. Where ...
— A Crooked Path - A Novel • Mrs. Alexander

... Now, when we ask what position man occupies among the other organisms according to the latest teaching of comparative anatomy and classification, and how man's place in the zoological system is determined by comparison of the mature bodily forms, we get a very definite and significant reply; and this reply gives ...
— The Evolution of Man, V.1. • Ernst Haeckel

... both parties; and though it no doubt happens sometimes, that people do both the one and the other, yet, from the regard that all men have for their own interest, we may be assured, that it cannot happen so very frequently as we are sometimes apt to imagine. Ask any rich man of common prudence, to which of the two sorts of people he has lent the greater part of his stock, to those who he thinks will employ it profitably, or to those who will spend it idly, and he will laugh at you for proposing the question. Even among borrowers, therefore, ...
— An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations • Adam Smith

... nice, nay, pleasant even, to feel hungry when there is a prospect of a good "feed" in the tin dish; but how frequently do we find a "southerly wind" prevailing in that receptacle for "panem;" and what is there, I ask, in "Fanny Adams" alternated with "salt junk?" In the one, ...
— In Eastern Seas - The Commission of H.M.S. 'Iron Duke,' flag-ship in China, 1878-83 • J. J. Smith

... from broken hearts. Let him think of the innocent beauty and loveliness that lie buried there, of the hopes and the joys that have been driven from the heart by the hand of the destroyer; and then let him ask himself if "the wages of sin" is a thing of small account. Let his mind run a little further, and he can but see that the graveyard's solemn tale to the end of the world must be yearly told. Death here writes his name anew every passing season in the fresh ...
— Life and Labors of Elder John Kline, the Martyr Missionary - Collated from his Diary by Benjamin Funk • John Kline

... herd of yearling stallions but yesterday," Terrence replied, "and with the picture of the splendid beasties still in my eyes I'll ask: And who more ...
— The Little Lady of the Big House • Jack London

... which commanded the widest view of the carr, and Mildred was following at his heels,—a good deal startled by the hares which leaped across her path. There seemed to be more hares now on the hill than she had seen in all her life before. She could not ask about the hares, however, when she saw the brown tent, or a piece of it, flapping about in the water, a great way off, and ...
— The Settlers at Home • Harriet Martineau

... world, and go to my Father," his disciples seem to have welcomed with joy this departure from his usual manner of speaking, and said immediately, "Lo! now speakest thou plainly, and speakest no proverb: now we know that thou knowest all things, and needest not that any man should ask thee: by this we believe that thou earnest ...
— The Christian Life - Its Course, Its Hindrances, And Its Helps • Thomas Arnold

... spring As though to greet with smiles the sun's bright rays, On some May morning, and in joyous measure, Small songbirds make the dewy forest ring With a sweet chorus of sweet roundelays, Hath life in all its store a purer pleasure? 'Tis half a Paradise on earth. Yet ask me what I hold of equal worth, And I will tell what better still Ofttimes before hath pleased mine eyes, And, while I see it, ever will. When a noble maiden, fair and pure, With raiment rich and tresses deftly braided, Mingles, for pleasure's sake, ...
— The Development of the Feeling for Nature in the Middle Ages and - Modern Times • Alfred Biese

... street-singing," Noel said. But that was no good, because there is only one street in the village, and the people there are much too poor for one to be able to ask them for anything. And all round it is fields with only sheep, who have nothing to give except their wool, and when it comes to taking that, ...
— New Treasure Seekers - or, The Bastable Children in Search of a Fortune • E. (Edith) Nesbit

... morning in his darkened room, with all the sporting papers scattered over his quilt and a little decanter of the favourite cherry-brandy within easy reach. I like to think of him sitting by his fire in the afternoon and hearing his ministers ask for him at the door and piling another log upon the fire, as he heard them sent away by his servant. It was not, I acknowledge, a life to kindle popular enthusiasm. But most people knew little of its ...
— The Works of Max Beerbohm • Max Beerbohm

... happened to witness a very unfortunate and distressing affair. A duel was fought at sunrise, in the edge of the woods yonder, and the challenged party, Mr. Dent, of Georgia, was killed. I came to ask permission to bring the body here, until arrangements can be made for its interment; and also to beg your assistance in obtaining ...
— St. Elmo • Augusta J. Evans

... though for further questions, but neither spoke. Now that the main mystery was solved, the one question uppermost in both their minds was what this suave, inscrutable nobleman was going to do with them—and that question neither cared to ask, fearful of what the answer ...
— Astounding Stories, July, 1931 • Various

... existence? How helpful is it in solving the problems that confront you; how far does it aid you in their solution, wherein does it remove the obstacles before your pathway. Find out how much it strengthens, invigorates, inspires you. Ask yourself how much it encourages, enheartens, emboldens you. Put down on paper every slightest item of good, or help, or inspiration it is to you, and on the other hand, the harm, the discouragement, the evil, the fears it brings to you, ...
— Quit Your Worrying! • George Wharton James

... until an opportunity occurred to touch Rose, unseen by her aunt or Biddy. The poor heart-stricken girl raised her face, from which all the colour had departed, and looked almost vacantly at Jack, as if to ask an explanation. Hope is truly, by a most benevolent provision of Providence, one of the very last blessings to abandon us. It is probable that we are thus gifted, in order to encourage us to rely on the great atonement to the last moment, since, without this natural ...
— Jack Tier or The Florida Reef • James Fenimore Cooper

... threatening of a break-down. Miss Quincey's somewhat eccentric behaviour filled her with misgivings; and in order to investigate her case at leisure, she chose the first afternoon when Miss Cursiter was not at home to ask the ...
— Superseded • May Sinclair

... ask him if you wish it, certainly." Ever since their marriage he had been teaching her,—intentionally teaching her,—that it would be the duty of both of them to get all they could from her father. She had learned the lesson, but it had been very distasteful to her. ...
— The Prime Minister • Anthony Trollope

... refuse her to sing a song. Edward never liked to sing in mixed companies, and was about making some objections, when the widow interrupted him with one of those Irish "Ah, now's," so hard to resist. "Besides, all the noisy pack are in the dancing-room, or indeed I wouldn't ask you; and here there's not one won't be charmed with you. Ah, look at Miss Monk, there—I know she's dying to hear you; and see all the ladies hanging on your lips absolutely. Can you ...
— Handy Andy, Volume One - A Tale of Irish Life, in Two Volumes • Samuel Lover

... to ask him just one question, but I dared not. No words would come; and perhaps if they had, I should have regretted them, for I was so sure he was not a man who would fall out of love with one woman to tumble into love ...
— The Motor Maid • Alice Muriel Williamson and Charles Norris Williamson

... the baronet approached Lucy, and seemed, by his action, as well as his words, to ask her consent to something. Lucy looked at him, but neither by her word nor gesture appeared to accede to or refuse his request; and her father, after complacently bowing, as if to thank her for ...
— The Black Baronet; or, The Chronicles Of Ballytrain - The Works of William Carleton, Volume One • William Carleton

... will instantly obey. This I did from my great Duty to your Grace, for I have long had no Concern in this Affair, nor have I seen any of the Parties lately unless once when I was desired to send for the Girl (Canning) to my House that a great number of Noblemen and Gentlemen might see her and ask her what Questions they pleased. I am, with the ...
— Historical Mysteries • Andrew Lang

... the image of Pierre Fauchery came up before me, and at the same time the thought that I had taken a base advantage of the kindness of his reception of me became quite unbearable. I felt a passionate longing to see him again, to ask his pardon for my deception. I wished to tell him who I was, with what purpose I had gone to him and that I regretted it. But there was no need of a confession. It would be enough to destroy the pages I had written the night before. With this idea ...
— International Short Stories: French • Various

... her temper, a thing she does very easily. "If you don't believe me, go ask one of them," she snapped, and disappeared inside her house, where Peter could hear her scolding away ...
— The Burgess Bird Book for Children • Thornton W. Burgess

... sollicitous for the Event of it. And having been informd that you intended to consider it at your Leisure Hours in the Recess of the Court, they earnestly wish you would compleat a Plan for their Reliefe. And in the mean time, if it be not too much Trouble, they ask it as a favor that you would by a Letter enable me to communicate to them the general outlines of ...
— The Writings of Samuel Adams, vol. III. • Samuel Adams

... he said; "there is no hurry, but I must ask you to leave with all possible speed." And then, addressing his men, he added: "Now, then, two men to every window; take furniture, tables, chairs, anything, and barricade away—we may have to ...
— Six days of the Irish Republic - A Narrative and Critical Account of the Latest Phase of Irish Politics • Louis Redmond-Howard

... happiness for me in life, Amalia, and that is forbidden me. I have expiation to make before I may ask happiness of heaven. You have been most patient with my ...
— The Eye of Dread • Payne Erskine

... did us most mischief on Monday, and who did not vote with us, came to ask the Chancellor for ...
— A Political Diary 1828-1830, Volume II • Edward Law (Lord Ellenborough)

... have had a top-level grade of intelligence, but by the end of the second week, his conscience was nagging him, and he was beginning to wonder who was goofing and why. After much thinking—if we may so refer to MacNeil's painful cerebral processes—he decided to ask a few cautious questions. ...
— Cum Grano Salis • Gordon Randall Garrett

... of him who has died even now, my brother. I hope to despatch (under escort?) your envoy with my envoy; and I have sent a present to thee, my brother. Moreover, my brother has sent the gold that I desired of thee—much gold, my brother. And let my brother send the possessions that I ask of thee. And, whatever were the messages, my brother has done all, and as for thee whatever messages you utter to me, I also have done. With the King of the Hittites, and with the King of Shinar, ...
— Egyptian Literature

... was angry again. "They're horrible men! rude, unkempt, low-down, common men! I won't have them in my house! You have no right to insist on it. They'll be all over the rooms, prying into everything, looking here, there and all over! They'll ask impertinent questions; they'll assume all sorts of things that aren't true, and they'll wind up by coming to a positively false conclusion! Alvord, Mason, you're my friends—help me out! Don't, let this ...
— Raspberry Jam • Carolyn Wells

... the solid ground. Cornels and salvage berries of the wood, And roots and herbs, have been my meager food. While all around my longing eyes I cast, I saw your happy ships appear at last. On those I fix'd my hopes, to these I run; 'T is all I ask, this cruel race to shun; What other ...
— The Aeneid • Virgil

... dear Annys, this is neither the time nor place for you and me to argue out the matter. I must ask you to trust to ...
— The Master of Mrs. Chilvers • Jerome K. Jerome

... snake, And thus again his counsel spake: "Thine anger and thy grief restrain, And firm in duty's path remain. Dear brother, lay thy scorn aside, And be the right thy joy and pride. Thy ready zeal and thoughtful care To aid what rites should grace the heir,— These 'tis another's now to ask; Come, gird thee for thy noble task, That Bharat's throning rites may he Graced with the things prepared for me. And with thy gentle care provide That her fond heart, now sorely tried With fear and longing for my sake, With doubt and dread may never ache. To know that ...
— The Ramayana • VALMIKI

... Exodus," began to excite our astonishment. For instance, Ras Kusayr ("the Short One") becomes Ras Arser—what a name for a headland! A good survey will presently become a sine qu non. Unfortunately Ahmed Kaptn was suffering so much that I could not ask him to make solar observations; while the rest of us had other matters in hand. It was a great disappointment, where so much useful work ...
— The Land of Midian, Vol. 1 • Richard Burton

... ample means of flight, able at least to perch on rocks and scuffle along the shore, perhaps competent to dive, though not so well as a Palmiped bird, many fishes must have yielded to the cruel beak and sharp teeth of Rhamphorhynchus. If we ask to which of the many families of Birds the analogy of structure and probable way of life would lead us to assimilate Rhamphorhynchus, the answer must point to the swimming races with long wings, clawed feet, hooked beak, and habits or violence and voracity; and for preference, the ...
— The Ancient Life History of the Earth • Henry Alleyne Nicholson

... advice to him to ask his sister what was the matter between the two families, so much had happened—Fleur's disclosure in the Green Park, her visit to Robin Hill, to-day's meeting—that there seemed nothing to ask. He talked of Spain, his sunstroke, Val's horses, their father's health. ...
— Forsyte Saga • John Galsworthy

... which ought to exist between the north and south. I do not propose to continue agitation; I only appear here to demand justice,—to demand compliance with compromises fully agreed upon and declared by law. I ask no more, and I will submit to ...
— Recollections of Forty Years in the House, Senate and Cabinet - An Autobiography. • John Sherman

... ask me from time to time why I don't write a story, or a novel, or something of that kind. Instead of answering each one of you separately, I will thank you to step up into the wholesale department for a few moments, where I deal in answers by the ...
— The Autocrat of the Breakfast Table • Oliver Wendell Holmes

... told us that manure was the food of plants, and that the food of plants was composed of the above twelve elements; and now you tell us that man and beast, fruit and flower, grain and grass, root, stem, and branch, all are composed or made up of these same dozen elements. If I ask you what bread is made of, you say it is composed of the dozen elements aforesaid. If I ask what wheat-straw is made of, you answer, the dozen. If I ask what a thistle is made of, you say the dozen. There are a good many milk-weeds in my strawberry patch, and ...
— Talks on Manures • Joseph Harris

... are equally probable. 2. [techspeak] A computational quantity that can take on one of two values, such as true and false or 0 and 1. 3. A mental flag: a reminder that something should be done eventually. "I have a bit set for you." (I haven't seen you for a while, and I'm supposed to tell or ask you something.) 4. More generally, a (possibly incorrect) mental state of belief. "I have a bit set that says that you were the last guy to hack on EMACS." (Meaning "I think you were the last guy to hack on EMACS, and what I am about to say is predicated on this, so please ...
— The Jargon File, Version 4.0.0

... wives must accompany you to the first platforms of the temple. Farewell, dear friend, and think upon my words; whether they are acceptable to you or no, I am sure of this, that both for the sake of your own honour and because I ask it of you, you will die bravely as though the eyes of your own people were watching all.' And bending suddenly, Otomie kissed me on the forehead gently as a sister might, and ...
— Montezuma's Daughter • H. Rider Haggard

... morning the captain came to me and said, in a sort of apologising manner, that the ladies had desired him to beg me not to pay so many visits to their cabin, particularly of a morning, when some of them had not quite finished their toilet, but that I should always ask leave first and have myself announced, as it is set down in ...
— Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine — Volume 57, No. 351, January 1845 • Various

... [150]story. It so happened, that, at a certain time, he was obliged to go up the river above mentioned: and he says, that he looked about very wistfully; yet, to his great amazement, he saw neither amber nor poplar. Upon this he took the liberty to ask the people, who rowed him, when he should arrive at the amber-dropping trees: but it was with some difficulty that he could make them understand what he meant. He then explained to them the story of Phaethon: how he borrowed the chariot of the Sun; and being an awkward charioteer, ...
— A New System; or, an Analysis of Antient Mythology. Volume II. (of VI.) • Jacob Bryant

... made a little mental calculation as to the amount I ought to ask, and had arrived at a sum which, while it was somewhat less than I should have received had the whole of the cabins been separately taken, would pay me just as well in the long run; and this sum ...
— The Cruise of the "Esmeralda" • Harry Collingwood

... to me, my boy. The die is cast. The unworthy individual who stands before you is started on an extensive campaign—more extensive than all his former excursions put together. (To KROLL.) May I venture to ask you, Professor—unter uns—are there in your esteemed town any fairly decent, ...
— Rosmerholm • Henrik Ibsen

... is called Vin Huet—and is the last wine which a traveller will be disposed to ask for. When Henry IV. passed through the town, he could not conceive why such excellent grapes should produce such execrable wine. I owe this intelligence ...
— A Bibliographical, Antiquarian and Picturesque Tour in France and Germany, Volume One • Thomas Frognall Dibdin

... have seen King Harald a second time, I think him a better man than at first I did. Ambition will no doubt lead him to do many things that are contrary to his nature; but I do not think he will violate the laws of hospitality after what has passed. However, I may be wrong; so I would ask thee, Guttorm, to go aboard of your ship, which lies nearest to that of the King, and, should ye see anything like a struggle, or hear a shout do thou haste to the rescue. I will have my ...
— Erling the Bold • R.M. Ballantyne

... having shown the letters of Catinat to Madame de Maintenon, she had commanded him to keep them from his Majesty, and to say not a syllable about them. Chamillart added, that Madame de Maintenon was not far off, and supplicated the King to ask her the ...
— The Memoirs of Louis XIV., His Court and The Regency, Complete • Duc de Saint-Simon

... nothing about reading. A book was as much of a mystery to him as the stars at night. When he heard his mistress read aloud from the Bible, his curiosity was aroused. He felt so secure in her kindness that he had the boldness to ask her to teach him. Following her natural impulse to do kindness to others, and without, for a moment, thinking of the danger, she at once consented. He quickly learned the alphabet and in a short time could spell words of three syllables. But alas, for his young ambition! When Mr. Auld ...
— Stories of Achievement, Volume III (of 6) - Orators and Reformers • Various

... His elect," she cried, "and I am glad this day, that I never doubted Him, and never prayed to Him with a grudge at the bottom of my heart." Then she began to dress herself with her old joyfulness, humming a line of this and that psalm or paraphrase, and stopping in the middle to ask Christina another question; until the kettle began to simmer to her happy mood, and she suddenly sung out joyfully four lines, never very ...
— A Knight of the Nets • Amelia E. Barr

... have just enunciated pleads loudly enough for the cause of vivisection to make it useless to defend it. No one, however, has risen to ask for an absolute proscription of it, but it is only desired that the abuse of an abominable practice shall be curbed. Does the abuse exist? That is the question, and it may be answered in the affirmative. Yes, we do sometimes impose useless sufferings upon animals. It is a culpable folly, ...
— Scientific American Supplement, No. 415, December 15, 1883 • Various

... ventriloquist, but cannot keep down his own way of expressing himself. Heavy complaints have been made respecting the transprosing of the old plays by Cibber; but it never occurred to these critics to ask, how it came that no one ever attempted to transprose ...
— Literary Remains, Vol. 2 • Coleridge

... off a large boat full of men to assist in bringing in our ship, and to enquire the news. Seeing them making towards us, I ordered none of our men to appear but such as had dark complexions and wore Spanish dresses, standing ready to answer such questions as they might ask in hailing, and to give them a rope when they clapped us on board. Some of our men also were concealed under our gunwales, with their muskets ready to point into the boat, to command them to make her fast, and this stratagem ...
— A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels, Volume X • Robert Kerr

... when considered apart, let us first of all take your individual self, and ask how you would proceed to separate your inherited nature from the nature which you have acquired in the course of living your life. It is not easy. Suppose, however, that you had a twin brother born, if indeed ...
— Anthropology • Robert Marett

... the minister's wife. "I know it is hard, but we must forgive. You see we MUST forgive. And we must ask Him to help us, who has more ...
— The Man From Glengarry - A Tale Of The Ottawa • Ralph Connor

... manhood big tears stood in his eyes. It must be so; it must be that this poor forlorn creature, who had passed through sufferings of his own, and borne them, was now shattered and undone at the prospect of disaster to his friend. Did he know more than he had said? It was vain to ask. Would he—do anything? Ralph glanced at the little man: barrow-backed he was, as he had himself said. No, the idea seemed monstrous. The young man rose to go; he could not speak, but he took Sim's hand in ...
— The Shadow of a Crime - A Cumbrian Romance • Hall Caine

... am not in the habit of resisting my fancies; but I never commit follies. Had we been equals, I should have received you at my house, and studied you before I hinted at my feelings; but as that was impossible, I was driven to this interview; now you know what to do; be worthy of me, it is all I ask." ...
— The Forty-Five Guardsmen • Alexandre Dumas

... upon her lip. She invites me, with a jerk, to follow her. I do so. She leads me out into a room adjoining—a rugged room, with a funnel-shaped, contracting roof, open at the top, to the bright day. I ask her what it is. She folds her arms, leers hideously, and stares. I ask again. She glances round, to see that all the little company are there; sits down upon a mound of stones; throws up her arms, and yells out, like a fiend, ...
— Pictures from Italy • Charles Dickens

... is?" he asked, "might's well be done in th' open as in th' dark an' unseen. Might better be! I move we ride th' Valley an' ask th' settlers to band together, under Last's, an' give our ultimatum t' Courtrey on th' heels of this. What ...
— Tharon of Lost Valley • Vingie E. Roe

... the lunatic-fringe of the movement, and so it happened that Jimmie had listened to a tirade against the diabolical practice of inoculation, which caused more deadly diseases than it was supposed to prevent. But the medical officers of this camp did not stop to ask Jimmie's conclusions on that vital subject; they just told him to roll up the sleeve of his left arm, and proceeded to wipe his skin clean and ...
— Jimmie Higgins • Upton Sinclair

... had been in the monastery, to which Rin-zai replied: 'Three years.' The elder said: 'Have you ever approached the master and asked his instruction in Buddhism?' Rin-zai said: 'I have never done this, for I did not know what to ask.' 'Why, you might go to the master and ask him what ...
— The Religion of the Samurai • Kaiten Nukariya

... Brethren met on Sunday morning for early worship in the public hall, they joined with one accord in the prayer, "Bless the sweat of the brow and faithfulness in business"; and the only business they allowed was business which they could ask the Lord to bless. To them work was a sacred duty, a delight and a means for the common good. If a man is blessed who has found his work, then blessed were the folk at Herrnhut. "We do not work ...
— History of the Moravian Church • J. E. Hutton

... pretending, and humbugging, and letting on, when the day comes to you that your comrade is killed in the trench beside you, and you don't as much as look round at him until you trip over his poor body, and then all you say is to ask why the hell the stretcher-bearers don't take it out of the way. Why should I read the papers to be humbugged and lied to by them that had the cunning to stay at home and send me to fight for them? Don't talk to me or to any soldier of the war being ...
— O'Flaherty V. C. • George Bernard Shaw



Words linked to "Ask" :   govern, necessitate, give voice, solicit, request, take, call, demand, asker, address, communicate, ask in, inquire, ask for, consult, phrase, intercommunicate, articulate, cry out for, compel, postulate, enquire, ask round, question, expect, cry for, claim, formulate, exact, need, word, call for, ask for it, cost, obviate, require, ask for trouble, quest, query, draw, confer with, pry, turn to, ask over



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