asking
/ˈæskɪŋ/adjective, noun, verb
asking is spelled A-S-K-I-N-G: 6 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 91 times per million words in written English, the 1,167th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, asking means “That asks; that expresses a question or request” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in asking?
| Letters | 6: A-S-K-I-N-G |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 91 times per million words; the 1,167th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Same letters |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is asking?
Asking appears 91 times per million words in written English, the 1,167th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce asking?
- US /ˈæskɪŋ/
- UK /ˈɑːskɪŋ/
- /ˈaskɪŋ/
Asking has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-asking.ogg, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Back_ache-asking.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with asking?
No other word on PlainSpell ends in the same sounds as asking (/æskɪŋ/).
Spelled with the same letters in another order: gaskin.
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of asking
- more asking comparative
- most asking superlative
- askings plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does asking mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
That asks; that expresses a question or request.
noun
- 1
The act or process of posing a question or making a request.
His asking was greeted with silence.
- 2
rareA request, or petition.
- 3
The marriage banns.
verb
- 1
present participle of ask
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Where does asking come from?
From 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.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).