question

Syllables: ques·tionUK/ˈkwɛs.tʃən//ˈkwɛʃ.tən/

question noun: a worded or expressed sentence, phrase, or only a word on its own, which asks for information, a reply, or a response; an interrogative.

Noun

question (plural questions)

A worded or expressed sentence, phrase, or only a word on its own, which asks for information, a reply, or a response; an interrogative.
- What is your question?
- I told him about everything I could think of; and what I couldn't think of he did. He asked about six questions during my yarn, but every question had a point to it. At the end he bowed and thanked me once more. As a thanker he was main-truck high; I never see anybody so polite.1913, Joseph C[rosby] Lincoln, chapter IV, in Mr. Pratt’s Patients, New York, N.Y.; London: D[aniel] Appleton and Company, →OCLC
Synonyms:

inquiry, enquiry, query, interrogation
A subject or topic for consideration or investigation.
- The question of seniority will be discussed at the meeting.
- There was a question of which material to use.
Synonyms:

subject, topic, problem, consideration, proposition
A doubt or challenge about the truth, accuracy, or validity of a matter.
- His claim to the property has come under question.
- The story is true beyond question.
Synonyms:

issue, doubt
A proposal to a meeting as a topic for deliberation.
- I move that the question be put to a vote.
Synonyms:

proposal
(archaic, historical, with-definite-article) Interrogation by torture.
- I, not at all ambitious of the crown of martyrdom, resolved to temporize: so that, when I was brought to the question the second time, I made a solemn recantation […]1751, [Tobias] Smollett, chapter LXXVII, in The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle […], volume II, London: Harrison and Co., […], →OCLC
- The Scottish privy council had power to put state prisoners to the question.1849–1861, Thomas Babington Macaulay, chapter II, in The History of England from the Accession of James the Second, volume (please specify |volume=I to V), London: Longman, Brown, Green, and...
(obsolete) Talk; conversation; speech.
- Made she no verbal question?c. 1603–1606, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of King Lear”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount...

Verb

question (third-person singular simple present questions, present participle questioning, simple past and past participle questioned)

(transitive) To ask questions of; to interrogate; to ask for information.
- Yet he lingered in Perryville with the determination of seeing Ruth, and questioning her about Helen Murray's letters.1836, Frederick W. Thomas, East and West, volume 2
- However, a Carlisle newspaper got hold of the story, and at the half-yearly meeting of the Caledonian Railway Company, held on March 17, 1863, a shareholder, Mr. Meiklem, questioned the Chairman, Lt.-Col. Salkeld, regarding a "Chase of Engines," described in the newspaper article. The Chairman...1950 January, David L. Smith, “A Runaway at Beattock”, in Railway Magazine, pages 54–55
Synonyms:

query
(transitive) To raise doubts about; have doubts about.
- Question things. I have the most fun when I'm writing questioning things that people do not question- the assumptions that everybody knows are true.1985 April 17, Frank Herbert, 15:46 from the start, in Frank Herbert speaking at UCLA 4/17/1985, UCLACommStudies, archived from the original on 10 Feb 2017
- He questioned South Korean claims that China is a major source of its pollution.2019, VOA Learning English (public domain)
Synonyms:

query, contest
(intransitive) To ask a question or questions; inquire or seek to know; examine.
- He that questioneth much shall learn much.1597, Francis Bacon, Of Discourse
(intransitive, obsolete) To argue; to converse; to dispute.
- I pray you, think you question with the Jew.c. 1596–1598 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merchant of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward]...

question meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu

question in Hindi

sentence, phrase or word: प्रश्न praśna, सवाल savāl
subject or topic — see also topic: विषय viṣay
doubt or challenge — see also doubt: संदेह sandeh

question in Tamil

sentence, phrase or word: கேள்வி kēḷvi, வினா viṉā
doubt or challenge — see also doubt: ஐயம் aiyam
ask questions of: கேள் kēḷ, வினவு viṉavu
raise doubts about — see also doubt: எழுப்பு eḻuppu

question in Marathi

sentence, phrase or word: प्रश्न praśna

question in Urdu

sentence, phrase or word: سَوال savāl

More languagesFewer languages

question in Bengali: প্রশ্ন prôśnô, সওয়াল śôwal, বিষয় biśoẏ, প্রসঙ্গ prôśôṅgô
question in Telugu: ప్రశ్న praśna, ప్రశ్నించు praśniñcu
question in Malayalam: ചോദ്യം cōdyaṁ
question in Kannada: ಪ್ರಶ್ನೆ praśne
question in Punjabi: ਸਵਾਲ savāl, ਪ੍ਰਸ਼ਨ prśan
question in Gujarati: પ્રશ્ન praśna
question in Odia: ପ୍ରଶ୍ନ praśna
question in Sanskrit: प्रश्न praśna, पृच्छा pṛcchā, पृच्छति pṛcchati
question in Sinhala: ප්රශ්නය praśnaya
question in Assamese: প্ৰশ্ন prosno
question in Nepali: प्रश्न praśna
question in Pashto: پوښتنه poṣtëna, سوال swāl, مسأله masala
question in Tagalog: tanong
question in Arabic: سُؤَال suʔāl, سؤال suʔāl, مَسْأَلَة masʔala, استفهم istafhim
question in Malay: soalan, pertanyaan, tanya, persoalan
question in Indonesian: pertanyaan, soal
question in Persian: پُرْسِش pursiš, سُؤَال su'āl, سُؤال so'âl, مَسْئَلِه masa'le
question in Thai: คำถาม kam-tǎam
question in Vietnamese: câu hỏi
question in Myanmar: ပုစ္ဆာ puchca, အမေး a.me:, မေးခွန်း me:hkwan:

Examples of question in a sentence

I've ordered it all, but there’s still the question of who’s going to pay.
He obeyed without question.
There was no question of his blaming me for his frustration.
Can I ask you two a question? / Please, Christ, yes. / How can you two live like this? / How can... / Don't google the question, Moss!2006 February 3, Graham Linehan, The IT Crowd, season 1, episode 4:
When bodies change quickly or noticeably, assumptions often follow—and so does the desire to ask one potentially fraught question: Did medication play a role?2026 January 29, Angela Haupt, “Can I Ask Someone if They’re on Ozempic?”, in TIME, archived from the original on 01 Feb 2026:
The question of the plausibility of the counter-factual is seen as key in all three discussions of allohistorical fiction (as it is in Demandt's and Ferguson's examinations of allohistory) (cf.2014 October 14, David Malcolm, “The Great War Re-Remembered: Allohistory and Allohistorical Fiction”, in Martin Löschnigg, Marzena...

All 40 example sentences with question

Synonyms of question

5 more synonymsFewer synonyms

All synonyms of question

Forms of question

Noun
plural	questions
alternative form (archaic)	quæstion
Verb
third-person singular present	questions
present participle	questioning
past participle	questioned
past	questioned

Past tense of question: questioned

Plural of question: questions

Origin of question

From Middle English questioun, from Anglo-Norman questiun, from Old French question, from Latin quaestiōnem, accusative of quaestiō (“a seeking, investigation, inquiry, question”), from quaerere (“to seek, ask, inquire”), of uncertain origin, but possibly from Proto-Italic *kʷaizeō, from Proto-Indo-European *kʷeh₂- (“to acquire”). Doublet of quest. Partially displaced native Old English āscung, whence asking. Compare also Middle Low German quēstie (“questioning; inquiry”), Middle High German questje (“question”).

From Middle English questionen, questyonen, partly from Middle French questionner and partly from the noun.

Words formed from question

Phrases with question

67 more phrasesFewer phrases

Words that rhyme with question

Questions about question

What does question mean?: Question means a worded or expressed sentence, phrase, or only a word on its own, which asks for information, a reply, or a response; an interrogative.
What is question in Hindi?: Question in Hindi is प्रश्न (praśna), सवाल (savāl), विषय (viṣay). See Question meaning in Hindi.
How do you use question in a sentence?: I've ordered it all, but there’s still the question of who’s going to pay.
What part of speech is question?: Question can be a noun or a verb.
How do you pronounce question?: Question is pronounced /ˈkwɛs.tʃən/ (UK).
What is the plural of question?: The plural of question is questions.

Words near question in the dictionary

Adapted from Wiktionary: question (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: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-question.ogg.

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