Word.ws English Dictionary

asking for it

asking for it is the present participle and gerund of ask for it.

Meaning of ask for it

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.

Questions about asking for it

What is asking for it the present participle and gerund of?
Asking for it is the present participle and gerund of ask for it.

Words near asking for it in the dictionary

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

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: asking for it (page history and authors); 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:

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