Word.ws English Dictionary

ask for it

ask for it verb: to provoke an unwanted action; to invite a problem or fail to prevent one.

Verb

ask for it (third-person singular simple present asks for it, present participle asking for it, simple past and past participle asked for it)

  1. (idiomatic, informal) To provoke an unwanted action; to invite a problem or fail to prevent one.
    • Leaving your wallet visible on the car seat is just asking for it.
  2. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see ask for, it.
    • If you'd like a fresh towel at any point during your stay, just ask for it.

Synonyms of ask for it

Forms of ask for it

third-person singular presentasks for it
present participleasking for it
past participleasked for it
pastasked for it

Questions about ask for it

What does ask for it mean?
Ask for it means to provoke an unwanted action; to invite a problem or fail to prevent one.
What part of speech is ask for it?
Ask for it is a verb.
What is the past tense of ask for it?
The past tense of ask for it is asked for it.

Words near ask for it in the dictionary

  1. ask around
  2. ask back
  3. ask box
  4. ask boxes
  5. ask for
  6. ask for it
  7. ask for someone's hand in marriage
  8. ask for the moon
  9. ask for trouble
  10. ask how high when someone says jump
  11. ask in

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: ask for it (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-au-ask for it.ogg.

Cite this entry: “ask for it.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/ask_for_it. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.