asking/ˈæskɪŋ/EtymologyFrom Middle English askinge, askande, from Old English āsciende, from Proto-West Germanic *aiskōndī, present participle of Proto-West Germanic *aiskōn (“to ask”), equivalent to ask + -ing.asking means that asks; that expresses a question or request. Lexicurio rates it Distinctive — a strength score of 66 out of 100.asking is pronounced /ˈæskɪŋ/.adjThat asks; that expresses a question or request.“It was as when some great gentle dog brings in a limp and bedraggled prize dug from the yard and, laying it at one’s feet, looks up at one with soft asking eyes.”nounThe act or process of posing a question or making a request.“His asking was greeted with silence.”A request, or petition.“After many askings, pleadings, and episodes, all leading to nothing, she finally slumped down at the side of a well in a village where she was unknown.”The marriage banns.