question

▪ I. question ques‧tion ¹ [ˈkwestʆn] noun [countable]

1. a sentence or phrase that asks for information:

• They asked me a lot of questions about my work experience.

• Don't hesitate to contact me if you have any questions.

2. a subject or problem that needs to be settled, discussed, or dealt with:

• The real question is whether the employee has any power over customers.

question of

• This whole question of measuring risk has became a mess.

3. a feeling of doubt about something:

• This incident raises further questions about airport security.

• He is by far the best candidate. There is no question about it.

• The wisdom of this policy is open to question (= it will be doubted by some people ) .

4. in question the things, people etc in question are the ones that are being discussed or talked about:

• Is the information in question really a business secret?

5. out of the question not possible or allowed:

• The idea of merging with another company was now out of the question.

  [m0] ▪ II. question question ² verb [transitive]

1. to ask someone questions to find out what they know about something:

• None of the defendants was questioned by the police before their arrest.

question somebody about something

• We have questioned many of our customers about the new services.

2. to have doubts about whether something is true or if it is the right thing to do:

• The report questioned ISC's heavy reliance on three international customers.

* * *

Ⅰ.

question UK US /ˈkwestʃən/ noun

► [C] a sentence or phrase that asks for information: ask (sb) a question »

Can I ask a question, Gail?

answer a question »

Not one assistant correctly answered all the questions they were asked.

have a question »

Does anybody have any questions?

► [C] a subject or problem: »

We return to the question of whether pay for performance really motivates employees.

»

One very difficult question is how to charge market prices for energy.

► [C, U] a feeling of doubt about something: »

There is some question as to what is the best strategy.

»

The ethics of some of his business deals are open to question.

raise questions about sth »

His evidence raised questions about the credibility of a key eyewitness.

→ See also SCALED QUESTION(Cf. ↑scaled question)

● bring/call sth into question — Cf. call sth into question

● in question — Cf. in question

● out of the question — Cf. out of the question

Ⅱ.

question UK US /ˈkwestʃən/ verb [T]

► to ask someone questions about something: »

He does not know why authorities decided to question him.

question sb about/on sth »

Employers are not legally allowed to question job candidates about their plans to have children.

► to express doubts about something: »

Increasingly, the return on huge software investments made to improve efficiency was being questioned.