query

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   an instance of questioning

   The committees query has been going on for hours.

2. 2
   verb

   to pose a question

   They queried us about our plans for the weekend.

3. 3
   noun

   A question, an inquiry (US), an enquiry (UK).

   The teacher answered the student’s query concerning biosynthesis.

4. 4
   noun

   A question mark.

   His Glossary has ‘bouchen, to stop people's mouths,’; but this is followed by a query, to show that it was but a guess. I have shown, from the MSS. and other sources, that it should be bonched, i.e. bunched, bumped, knocked, smote.

5. 5
   noun

   A set of instructions passed to a database.

   The database admin switched on query logging for debugging purposes.

6. 6
   noun

   Ellipsis of query letter.

   Although many agents accept email queries, check to see if they prefer mailed query letters.

7. 7
   verb

   To ask, inquire.

   It’s queried whether there be any Science in the ſenſe of the Dogmatiſts: […]

8. 8
   verb

   To question or call into doubt.

   The story struck the depressingly familiar note with which true stories ring in the tried ears of experienced policemen. No one queried it. It was in the classic pattern of human weakness, mean and embarrassing and sad.

Etymology

An anglicisation of quere, an obsolete variant form of Latin quaere, second-person singular present active imperative of quaerō (“seek, look for; ask”); perhaps suffixed with -y (“abstract noun”). Cognate with French quérir, Italian chiedere, Portuguese querer, Romanian cere, and Spanish querer. Compare question.