| 释义 |
▪ I. question, n.|ˈkwɛstjən|
Also 4 questiun, 4–6 -oun, questyon, (4 qw-, 5 -one, -oun), 5 whestion.
[a. AF. questiun, OF. question (Godef.), ad. L. quæstiōn-em, n. of action from quærĕre to ask, inquire: cf. quære, query.]
I. The action of inquiring or asking.
1. a. The stating or investigation of a problem; inquiry into a matter; discussion of some doubtful point. † to make question, to raise discussion or talk, to express or entertain doubt (whether, of, about). Obs.
1375Barbour Bruce i. 249 Than mayss clerkis questioun..Quhethir he his lordis neid suld let. c1386Chaucer Knt.'s T. 1656 Peples..holdynge hir question Dyuynynge of thise Thebane knyghtes two. 1447O. Bokenham Seyntys (Roxb.) 2 If be what or why Be questyoun maad of thys tretyhs [etc.]. 1523Ld. Berners Froiss. I. 592 Qvestyon was made therof before the marshalles. 1599Shakes. Hen. V, i. i. 5 The..vnquiet time Did push it out of farther question. 1638R. Baker tr. Balzac's Lett. II. 102 Let us..never make question whether we ought to call them infirmities of age, or fruits of reason. 1778F. Burney Evelina xxxiv, As to consulting you..it was out of all question. 1824J. Marshall Const. Opin. (1839) 311 We cannot perceive how the occupation of these vessels can be drawn into question. 1886Ruskin Præterita I. vi. 185 [My father] allowed it without question.
b. In adverbial phrases, as beyond (all) question, out of question, past question, without question: Unquestionably.
1586T. B. La Primaud. Fr. Acad. 189 Out of question we will judge those men verie blinde. 1601Shakes. Twel. N. i. iii. 104 And. Why, would that haue mended my haire? To. Past question. 1680–90Temple Ess., Heroic Virtue Wks. 1731 I. 212 He was without Question, a Great and Heroick Genius. 1756Burke Vind. Nat. Soc. Wks. 1842 I. 5 In the state of nature, without question, mankind was subjected to many and great inconveniences. 1818Jas. Mill Brit. India II. v. viii. 684 He is beyond all question the most eminent of the chief rulers. 1880L. Stephen Pope v. 118 The Dunciad..is beyond all question full of coarse abuse.
c. † in question, in dispute, in controversy; in a doubtful or undecided state. Obs. So also with into and in = into; chiefly, and now only, in phr. to call in question: see call v. 18.
1390in Rec. Coldingham Priory (Surtees) 65 That yhour richte be na mare putt in questioun. 1494Fabyan Chron. (1533) vii. ccxxxii. 158 b, A longe whyle thys fyghte stode in questyon, whyther partye shulde obteyne vyctorye. 1513More in Grafton Chron. (1568) II. 769 If it fortune the Crowne to come in question. 1529― Dyaloge i. Wks. 123/2 The thynge standinge in debate and question. 1565Jewel Def. Apol. (1611) 324 How could these so doubtfull matters euer haue fallen in question amongst your fellowes. 1620J. Wilkinson Coroners & Sherifes 13 It hath beene in question and ambiguity. 1683Dryden Life Plutarch in P.'s Lives (1700) I. 18 The Pyrrhonians..who bring all certainty in Question. 1720Waterland Eight Serm. 138 Which is supposing the Thing in Question. 1768T. Pownall Admin. Brit. Col. (1774) I. 5 A right to call into question some..exertions of power.
d. in question, under consideration, forming the subject of discourse. to come into question, to be thought of as possible.
1611Shakes. Cymb. i. i. 34 His Father..had (besides the Gentleman in question) Two other Sonnes. 1653D. Osborne Lett. to Sir W. Temple (1888) 100 After dinner we sit and talk till Mr. B. comes in question, and then I am gone. 1775Sheridan Rivals ii. i, He does not think his friend..ever saw the lady in question. 1831Mackintosh Hist. Eng. II. 96 The very ill-fated man in question was John de la Pole. 1874Stubbs Const. Hist. I. i. 7 The succession of masters was too rapid to allow a change of language to come into question among the greater..part of the people. 1893Traill Soc. Eng. Introd. p. xxxvi, Discoveries of a far-reaching..character, have during the period in question been made.
2. a. The action of questioning, interrogating, or examining a person, or the fact of being questioned, etc.; † hence, talk, discourse.
1390Gower Conf. i. 1013 Ferst he let the Prestes take,..He put hem into questioun. 1456Sir G. Haye Law Arms (S.T.S.) 185 He aw nocht to be stoppit, bot frely to have passage throu all realmes but questioun. 1596Shakes. Merch. V. iv. i. 346 Ile stay no longer question. 1605― Macb. iii. iv. 118 Ross. What sights, my Lord? La. I pray you speake not..Question enrages him. 1690Locke Govt. ii. ii. §13 One Man..may do..whatever he pleases, without the least question or controll. 1849M. Arnold Sonnets, Shaksp., Others abide our question. Thou art free. 1869Tennyson Coming of Arthur 311 Fixing full eyes of question on her face.
b. spec. The application of torture as part of a judicial examination.
1583Exec. for Treason (1675) 12 No one was called to any capital or bloody question upon matters of Religion. 1651Evelyn Mem. (1857) I. 275 A malefactor was to have the question, or torture, given to him. 1689Burnet Tracts I. 80 The common Question that they give..is, that they tye the Hands of the suspected Person behind his back [etc.]. 1761Hume Hist. Eng. III. li. 110 He urged too, that Felton should be put to the question in order to extort from him a discovery of his accomplices. 1871H. Ainsworth Tower Hill iii. xix, Let him be submitted to the question, ordinary and extraordinary.
†c. in question: Under judicial examination; on trial. Obs. rare.
1589Horsey Trav. (Hakluyt Soc.) App. 330 John Chapele..was..ymprisoned almost a yeare, in question to have bene executed. 1597Shakes. 2 Hen. IV, i. ii. 68 He that was in question for the robbery.
d. to call in († or into) question: To examine judicially, bring to trial; to take to task, call to account.
1611Bible Acts xix. 40 We are in danger to be called in question for this dayes vprore. a1641Bp. R. Montagu Acts & Mon. (1642) 59 Socrates..was called into question, and had sentence of death pronounced against him. 1647J. Carter Nail & Wheel 78 Presently he was..called in question as a delinquent.
II. What is asked or inquired (about).
3. a. The interrogative statement of some point to be investigated or discussed; a problem; hence, a matter forming, or capable of forming, the basis of a problem; a subject involving more or less difficulty or uncertainty. the question: the precise matter receiving or requiring deliberation or discussion. to beg the question: see beg v. 6.
a1300Cursor M. 26104 Þar-wit-al sum questiones we sal vndo þe merk resons. 1387Trevisa Higden (Rolls) I. 15 Wel nyh al problemys and questiouns of the wiseste men. 1467in Rymer Foedera (1710) XI. 579 If..any Difficultie or Question in the Lawe happen to ryse. c1510More Picus Wks. 3/2 Some good simple folk, that should of zele to the faith..impugne those questions, as new thinges. 1598Shakes. Merry W. i. i. 227 But that is not the question: the question is concerning your marriage. 1663Butler Hud. i. ii. 465 It was a Question, whether he Or's Horse were of a Family More worshipful. 1768T. Pownall Admin. Brit. Col. (1774) I. 7 This American question..must now come forward. 1854Kingsley Lett. (1878) I. 416 This is a question involving the lives of thousands and tens of thousands of human beings. 1879McCarthy Own Time II. xxv. 219 The Eastern Question it was that disturbed the dream of peace.
b. spec. A subject for discussion, a proposal to be debated or voted on, in a meeting or deliberative assembly, esp. in Parliament; † the putting of this proposal to the vote. From the 18th cent., spec. a question put in Parliament by a Member to the Government or to a Minister. question!, used (a) to recall a speaker to the subject under discussion, † (b) to demand that the vote be taken (quot. 1817). previous question: see previous.
1549House of Commons Jrnl. 28 Mar. 21/1 In the Question, it is agreed, That the Number, which said No to the Bill, be the greater Number by One Person. 1559Ibid. 17 Apr. 60/1 Carnesew declared to the House, that Thrower, Servant to the Master of the Rolls, did say against the State of the House, that if a Bill were brought in for Womens Wyers in their Pastes, they would dispute it, and go to the Question. 1614Ibid. 13 Apr. 464/1 Mr. Hackwill:—That nothing to pass, by Order of the House, without a Question; and that no Order, without a Question Affirmative and Negative: And that ordered to be, upon the Question. 1658–9Burton's Diary (1828) IV. 37 The persons concerned must withdraw when any question is. 1678Marvell Growth Popery 24 Whereupon the greater number called for the Question, and had it in the Affirmative, that the Debate should be laid aside. 1778Parl. Reg. 16 Dec. 181 Lord Newhaven put a variety of questions to the gentlemen belonging to the board of ordnance. 1791Debate Abolit. Slave-Trade 119 A loud cry [being] kept up a considerable time for the question. 1817Hansard's Parl. Debates XXXV. 758/2 Lord Cochrane rose, amidst reiterated cries of question, to state [etc.]. 1844T. E. May Treat. Law, Privileges, Proceedings & Usage of Parl. viii. 166 Any member may propose a question, which is called ‘moving the house’, or, more commonly, ‘making a motion’. Ibid. 171 In the commons, when the motion has been seconded, it merges in the question, which is then proposed by the speaker to the house, and read by him. 1863H. Cox Instit. i. ix. 139 The Speaker,..when it has been seconded, proposes it to the House, and then the House are said to be in possession of the question. Ibid. 140 If it be wished to avoid a question, it is usual to move that the chairman do leave the chair. 1908A. E. Steinthal tr. Redlich's Procedures House of Commons II. vii. vi. 241 Requests for information, ‘Questions’ are regularly addressed by members of the House to the Government, and at times to the Speaker or to private members. 1929G. F. M. Campion Introd. Procedures House of Commons iv. 124 Oral Questions are by far the most numerous. To them is allotted the whole of ‘Question time’ proper, i.e. from not later than three o'clock to not later than a quarter to four. 1956P. Howarth Questions in House i. 17 Apart from the procedural reasons, there were also reasons of a political or a constitutional nature why the custom of asking parliamentary questions developed slowly. 1958S. Hyland Who goes Hang? xvi. 72 As the only office-holder present, he knew about the Colonial Secretary's statement due at the end of Questions. 1971P. D. G. Thomas House of Commons in 18th Cent. ii. 30 The eighteenth century saw the evolution of the Parliamentary question. Ibid. 32 Questions in the House proper may well have been established practice long before the first instance found of a question put to and answered by a minister. 1976Ann. Rep., Howard League for Penal Reform 1975/76 6 On the Bail Bill..the two organizations suggested a number of amendments... We are grateful to several MP's..who asked Questions, some at our suggestion.
c. Const. of (the subject-matter or sphere). Now freq. in phr. it is a question of = what is required or involved is, etc.
1382Wyclif Acts xviii. 15 If questiouns ben of the word, and names of the lawe. 1526Tindale Acts xviii. 15 Yf it be a question off wordes or off names or of youre lawe. 1812H. & J. Smith Rej. Addr., Living Lustres ii, The question of Houses I leave to the jury. 1836J. Gilbert Chr. Atonem. ix. (1852) 275 The recovery of transgressors is not a question of mere power. 1867Freeman Norm. Conq. (1876) I. iv. 223 It was a question of time.
d. Phr. out of the question, foreign to the subject; hence, not to be considered or thought of.
1700Collier 2nd Def. Short View 122 His Objection..is out of the Question. 1815Baroness Bunsen in Hare Life (1879) I. iii. 88 To go on describing the different effects..is out of the question. 1878R. B. Smith Carthage 210 The third alternative was no longer open..for retreat was out of the question. 1930G. B. Shaw Apple Cart i. 17 You cant. You mustnt. Of course not. Out of the question. 1977A. Ecclestone Staircase for Silence iv. 76 Anything like an attempt to impose a parochial structure, new or old, was out of the question.
4. A subject of discussion, debate, or strife between parties, or of one party with another.
OF. question occurs freq. in the sense of ‘difference’, ‘dispute’, ‘quarrel’.
1382Wyclif John iii. 25 A questioun is maad of Johnis disciplis with the Jewis, of the purificacioun. 1390Gower Conf. vii. 4148 A question betwen the tuo Thus writen in a bok I fond. 1456Sir G. Hay Law Arms (S.T.S.) 115 It efferis to the constable to here all questiounis, querelis and complayntis of his menȝe. 1484Caxton Fables of æsop v. x, Telle me your resons and caas..that the better I may gyue the sentence of your dyferent and question. 1533Bellenden Livy iii. xxv, Þe samyn place & land, of quhilk now þe questioun occurris [cf. infra for quhilk þe debate occurris]. 1606Shakes. Tr. & Cr. ii. ii. 18 Since the first sword was drawne about this question. 1818Cruise Digest (ed. 2) VI. 249 A question arose between the heir at law and the younger children, whether it passed by the will.
5. a. In negative expressions. it is no (or not a) question, there is no question, † or simply no question: There is no room for dispute or doubt (but, that). to make no question: To raise or entertain no doubt (of or about a thing, but or inf.).
1583W. Fulke Def. Tr. Script. Pref. 5 We make no question but that it is Apostolical. 1593Shakes. 2 Hen. VI, iv. ii. 61, I am able to endure much. No question of that. 1596― Merch. V. i. i. 184, I no question make To haue it. 1605Verstegan Dec. Intell. ii. (1628) 25 That our Saxon ancestors came out of Germanie..is no question. 1625Burges Pers. Tithes 2 My Purpose is not here to fall vpon that Question, (for I make no Question of it) Whether [etc.]. 1711Addison Spect. No. 59 ⁋3, I make no Question but it would have been looked upon as one of the most valuable Treasuries of the Greek Tongue. 1815Jane Austen Emma i. ix, I cannot make a question..about that; it is a certainty. 1845McCulloch Taxation Introd. (1852) 21/2 It is no longer a question that the disgust occasioned by this inequality..mainly contributed to throw France into a flame.
†b. no question (used parenthetically): No doubt, without question. Obs.
1594O. B. Quest. Profit. Concern. 27 We haue set at naught..the poore..whose accusations, no question, are gone vp into heauen. 1621Bp. R. Montagu Diatribæ 273 Alluding, no question, vnto that of the Psalme. a1674Clarendon Surv. Leviath. (1676) 260 This no question is his meaning. 1722De Foe Plague (1884) 125 There were, no Question, Accounts kept of their Charity.
c. no questions asked: with no need to give an account of oneself or one's conduct.
1948M. Laski Tory Heaven ix. 121 Under the old system, I could have had the pair of them and no questions asked. 1962Wodehouse Service with Smile x. 160 Give him a skipper and a little daughter..and he could have made straight for the reef of Norman's Woe, and no questions asked. 1968Listener 4 July 30/2 They can..sign a contract with a sports or tobacco firm and will then be..able to play lawn tennis for profit 365 days in the year—and no questions asked.
6. a. A sentence of interrogative form, addressed by one person to another in order to elicit information; an interrogation, query, inquiry. a good question: see good a. 14 c.
a1300Cursor M. 22891 (Cott.) An crafti clerc..asked him a questiun of a wolf and a leon. 1340Hampole Pr. Consc. 8288 Now may þou ask me..A questyon, and say..Salle þai [etc.]? a1400–50Alexander 1110 Inquire me noght þis question, I queth it þe neuer. c1485Digby Myst. iv. 1311 Ye askit hym..a whestion. c1580Sidney Ps. xlii. ii, Their daily questions..Where is now thy God soe good? 1665Boyle Occas. Refl. iv. xvii, Before we could answer that Question, we must ask one of him, which was, what he had been doing. 1773Goldsm. Stoops to Conq. iii. 111 Ask me no questions and I'll tell you no fibs. 1776Trial of Nundocomar 73/2 If you do not give a plain answer to a plain question, you will be committed. 1869Q. Rev. July 211 Go and put that question to the great armies of Austria.
†b. questions and commands, the name of a game in which one person addressed ludicrous questions and commands to each member of the company. Obs.
1673Wycherley Gentl. Dancing-Master ii. ii, He is as dull as a country-squire at questions and commands. 1709Steele Tatler No. 144 ⁋1 Just as one is chosen King at the game of Questions and Commands. 1731Fielding Grub St. Opera iii. vii, Unless when we have [kissed] at questions and commands.
c. Sc. in pl. The catechism (cf. question-book in 7). Also transf.
1795Burns Election v, The billie is gettin' his questions, To say in St. Stephen's the morn. 1893Stevenson Catriona 31, I judged..he would think the better of me if I knew the questions.
d. In various proverbial phrases and expressions, as ask me no questions and I'll tell you no lies and varr.; a civil question deserves a civil answer and varr. Also ask a silly question and you get a silly answer: see silly a.
1773Goldsmith Stoops to Conq. iii. 51 Ask me no questions and I'll tell you no fibs. 1818Scott Hrt. Midl. I. ix. 247 If ye'll ask nae questions, I'll tell ye nae lees. 1844T. C. Haliburton Attaché 2nd Ser. II. iv. 62 Let me give you a piece of advice;—Ax me no questions, and I'll tell you no lies. 1853― Sam Slick's Wise Saws II. ii. 48 Give a civil answer to a civil question. 1858S. A. Hammett Piney Woods Tavern xxvii. 285 The Squire there asked me a civil question, and that desarves a civil answer,—at least that's manners where I come from. 1900H. Lawson Over Sliprails 135 ‘Where did you buy the steer, father?’ she asked. ‘Ask no questions and hear no lies.’ 1955W. C. MacDonald Destination Danger xii. 140 Quist smiled. ‘Ask me no questions, I'll tell you no lies.’ 1970V. Canning Great Affair xii. 221 ‘What has happened to Sarah?’.. ‘Ask no questions hear no lies.’
III. 7. attrib. and Comb. a. attrib., as question-box, question-hour; b. objective and objective gen., as question-answerer, question-answering, question-asking, question-beggar, question-begging (see beg v. 6), question-putting, question raising, ns. or adjs.; c. phrasal: see question and answer; d. question-book Sc., a catechism (formerly often containing also the alphabet or a spelling-book); question-master, the chairman of a discussion panel (panel n.1 5 b), by whom the questions are put; question pitch, the rising intonation of an interrogative sentence; † question-sick, having a mania for questioning; question-stop, = question mark; question time; spec. a time set apart in Parliament for Members to question Ministers; † question-wise adv., as a question; question word, an interrogative pronoun, etc., used to introduce a question.
1900Westm. Gaz. 20 Jan. 9/2 (Advt.), It is also a great question-answerer, or work of reference. 1972Computers & Humanities VII. 9 Simmons is particularly good in describing the extensive progress made in second-generation question-answering systems. 1977Dædalus Fall 123 The various attempts to process natural language by machine—analysis and synthesis of speech, automatic translation, question-answering,..and the like.
1884E. Yates Recoll. (ed. Tauchn.) II. vii. 259 Much is said of..their constant question-asking. 1938Ann. Reg. 1937 CLXXIX. 303 To the same medley of generations in England belong Mr. Richard Aldington's The Crystal World..and Mr. W. H. Auden's question-asking Spain. 1972Jrnl. Social Psychol. LXXXVII. 9 English praise delivered to small groups of these children by a familiar Anglo adult exerted some degree of reinforcing effects on their question-asking behavior.
1935A. P. Herbert What a Word! viii. 229 The chief kind is the Question-beggar, the epithet or phrase which assumes or imputes that the question under discussion has been conclusively answered already.
1824J. Bentham Book of Fallacies iv. i. 213 (heading) Fallacies of Confusion, the object of which is, to perplex, when Discussion can no longer be avoided... Question-begging appellatives. c1860Whately Comm-pl. Bk. (1864) 263 What Jeremy Bentham calls ‘question-begging appellatives’. 1863Geo. Eliot Romola III. xiii. 130 There was no argument more widely convincing than question-begging phrases in large type. 1910A. Sidgwick Application of Logic vii. 217 Question-begging in the extended sense..occurs just so far as any attempt is made on the part of either disputant to prevent question-raising. 1911H. G. Wells New Machiavelli i. iv. 113, I scoffed at that pompous question-begging word ‘Evolution’. 1957Times Lit. Suppl. 27 Dec. 782/2 He is not above question-begging in the most ingenuous way. 1979C. Moule in M. Goulder Incarnation & Myth v. 138 Evidence of this kind in no way depends..upon question-begging theories of scriptural authority.
c1700in Wodrow Hist. Ch. Scot. (1828) II. 54 Having a mind to learn to read, I bought a Question Book.
1946L. MacNeice Dark Tower (1947) 165 Listeners will have the privilege of hearing a number of experts on Truth, all of them equally infallible; our question-master is the March Hare. 1952Gloucestershire Echo 3 Oct. 6/2 It has become traditional for the Festival to end..with a Brains Trust. With Gilbert Harding as question-master and..a varied team. 1977‘E. Crispin’ Glimpses of Moon ii. 36 The bright, uncommitted fashion of a television question-master..in a quiz.
1933L. Bloomfield in Saporta & Bastian Psycholinguistics (1961) 244/2 Yeah? and Is that so? with a peculiar modification of the question-pitch, have been used as facetious vulgarisms expressing disbelief. 1964C. C. Fries in D. Abercrombie et al. Daniel Jones 244 Formal yes-or-no questions, along with question-pitch.
1884E. W. Hamilton Diary 30 July (1972) II. 663 My main points are:..2. Confinement of question-putting to Private Members' nights [etc.]. 1910Question-raising [see question-begging above]. 1959Times 25 Sept. 8/4 Curious and question-raising as they are, the megapodes are worth a more serious..programme of research.
1647Trapp Comm. Acts viii. 24 All Christ's scholars are questionists, though not question-sick.
1862T. A. Trollope Marietta I. xi. 200 Looking at her like a question stop.
1852Mrs. Gaskell Let. 4 Sept. (1966) 197 (heading) Saty schoolroom, Question-time. 1885Manch. Exam. 28 Feb. 6/1 Sitting apathetically through a rather lively question time. 1891W. Fraser Disraeli & his Day 381 Colonel Makins, the..Member for Essex..said, ‘They have got it hot this afternoon about a Dissolution.’ I replied, ‘Oh, nonsense!’ This was during ‘Question-time’. 1936H. Nicolson Diary 3 Dec. (1966) 281 Members crowd in as question-time draws to its end. 1976H. Wilson Governance of Britain vii. 132 Harold Macmillan, a highly successful performer at Question time.
1642R. Harris Sermon 29 If wee follow Chrysostom's sense..and read the words Questionwise, Will hee suffer long?
1924H. E. Palmer Gram. Spoken Eng. 263 In Direct Questions, the question-words are said to be interrogative; in Indirect Questions, they are said to be conjunctive. 1964E. Uldall in D. Abercrombie et al. Daniel Jones 274 Question-word question: ‘What did he think they were doing?’ 1978Language LIV. 86 In English, questions are typically initiated by question words or verbs, so as to distinguish them from declarative sentences.
▪ II. question, v.|ˈkwɛstjən|
Also 5–6 -yon, (5 -one).
[a. OF. questionner (13th c.), f. question question n.]
1. a. trans. To ask a question or questions of (a person or fig. a thing); to interrogate. † Also with double object (quot. 1604).
1490Caxton Eneydos xv. 58 Fame..sette herself..with the porters and mynystres for to questyone theym. 1600Shakes. A.Y.L. ii. iv. 64 One of you question yon'd man, If he for gold will giue vs any foode. 1604― Oth. i. iii. 129 Her Father..Still question'd me the Storie of my life. 1714Swift Imit. Hor. ii. vi, And question me of this and that. 1814Cary Dante, Paradise iii. 133, I to question her became less prompt. 1863Geo. Eliot Romola Introd., The night-student, who had been questioning the stars or the sages..for that hidden knowledge.
b. To examine judicially; hence, to call to account, challenge, accuse (of). Now rare.
1637Heylin Answ. Burton 60 When you were questioned publickely for your misdemeanours. a1641Bp. R. Montagu Acts & Mon. (1642) 240 Socrates was questioned and condemned at Athens. 1656Bramhall Replic. ii. 96 He had rather his own Church should be questioned of Idolatry. 1789Constitution U.S. Art. i. §6 For any speech or debate in either house [members of Congress] shall not be questioned in any other place. 1839Macaulay Ess. (1843) II. 458 [He] cannot be questioned before any tribunal for his baseness and ingratitude.
†c. To challenge, defy (one) to do something. Obs. rare—1.
1643Sir T. Browne Relig. Med. i. §27, I cannot see why the Angel of God should question Esdras to recall the time past, if it were beyond his owne power.
†2. intr. to question with: To ask questions of; to hold discourse or conversation with; to dispute with. Obs.
1470–85Malory Arthur x. iv, These two knyghtes mette with syre Tristram and questyoned with hym. 1555Eden Decades 10, I questioned with hym as concernynge the eleuation of the pole. 1614Jackson Creed iii. i. §5 Little would it boote vs to question with them about their meaning. 1760–72H. Brooke Fool of Qual. (1809) II. 97, I was not far from murmuring and questioning with my God.
3. a. intr. To ask or put questions.
1584Lyly Campaspe v. ii, Thy sighs when he questioned, may breed in him a jealousy. 1593Shakes. 3 Hen. VI, iii. ii. 122 Goe wee..to the man that tooke him To question of his apprehension. 1626D'Ewes in Ellis Orig. Lett. Ser. i. III. 217 Others hearing not well what he saied hindred those by questioning which might have heard. 1725Pope Odyss. xxiii. 110, I scarce uplift my eyes, Nor dare to question. 1858Longfellow M. Standish ix. 53 Questioning, answering,..and each interrupting the other.
b. trans. with clause stating the question. ? Obs.
1592Greene Upst. Courtier in Harl. Misc. (Malh.) II. 237, I..was so bould as to question what they were, and of their businesse. 1611Shakes. Wint. T. i. ii. 433 'Tis safer to Auoid what's growne, then question how 'tis borne. 1651Hobbes Leviath. ii. xxi. 110 They never questioned what crime he had done.
†c. intr. To inquire or seek after. Obs. rare—1.
1606G. W[oodcocke] Hist. Ivstine xxxi. 105 Which flattery..so much delighted him that them which before his affection hated, now his desire earnestly questioned after.
4. a. trans. To make a question of, to raise the question (whether, if, etc.); hence, to doubt, hold as uncertain.
1533Frith Answ. More Wks. (1573) 33 Whether it be so or not it may be questioned. 1659Sir H. Slingsby Diary (1836) 356, I sent you a leter..but I question whether you received it. 1745P. Thomas Jrnl. Anson's Voy. 286, I much question if those who left them had once fired them. 1758Johnson Idler No. 4 ⁋9 No man can question whether wounds and sickness are not really painful. 1883Law Times 20 Oct. 408/1 Whether the request..can be complied with..may be questioned.
b. In negative expressions, as I do not question (but, etc.) = I have no doubt, I am sure (that); also pass. (cf. 5) it cannot be questioned = it is certain; etc.
1613Shakes. Hen. VIII, ii. iv. 50 It is not to be question'd, That they had gather'd a wise Councell. 1687T. Brown Saints in Uproar Wks. 1730 I. 82, I..question not but you'll do me and these two martyrs justice. a1720Sewel Hist. Quakers (1795) I. Pref. 23 Some cases which I did not question to be true. 1749Fielding Tom Jones xviii. ii, He did not in the least question succeeding with his daughter. 1869Huxley in Sci. Opin. 21 Apr. 464/3 Nor can it be questioned that [etc.]. 1878Simpson Sch. Shaks. I. 120 He did not question but the native Irish would join him.
5. a. To call in question, dispute, oppose.
1632Galway Arch. in 10th Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm. App. V. 478 Wee question the truth of your informacion. 1647N. Bacon Disc. Govt. Eng. i. lix. (1739) 112 This the wilful Archbishop never questioned, till he questioned all Authority. 1781Gibbon Decl. & F. xxvii. III. 3 The worthless delegates of his power, whose merit it was made sacrilege to question. 1832H. Martineau Life in Wilds vii. 96 There would be no true humility in questioning your decision. 1883Froude Short Stud. IV. ii. i. 164 Any one who openly questioned the truth of Christianity was treated as a public offender.
b. To bring into question, make doubtful or insecure. rare.
1637Heywood Royall King iii. Wks. 1874 VI. 43 This emulation Begets our hate, and questions him of life. a1643Suckling Goblins v. (1646) 58 Behold (grave Lords) the man Whose death questioned the life of these. 1879G. Meredith Egoist III. xiv. 291 At the game of Chess it is the dishonour of our adversary when we are stale-mated: but in life..such a winning of the game questions our sentiments.
†c. To state as a question. Obs. rare—1.
1643Sir T. Browne Relig. Med. i. §21 Myself could shew a Catalogue of doubts, never yet imagined nor questioned.
†6. To ask or inquire about, to investigate (a thing). Obs. rare.
1599Shakes. Hen. V, ii. iv. 142 Dispatch vs with all speed, least that our King Come here himselfe to question our delay. a1633Austin Medit. (1635) 133 When they Question such things, as the Holy-ghost is silent in. 1655Stanley Hist. Philos. iii. (1701) 87/1 Socrates asked them if..he might be permitted to question what he understood not. |