ask for

1. 1.

   increase the likelihood of

   “ask for trouble”

   “invite criticism”

   Synonymsinvite

   Broaderarouse
2. 2.

   express the need or desire for

   “She requested an extra bed in her room”

   “She called for room service”

   “when you call, always ask for Mary”

   Synonymsrequestbespeakcall forquest

   Broadercommunicate

   Narrowerorderaskencorepetitiondemandappealsupplicateapplysolicitreserve

Questions about ask for

What does ask for mean?

ask for means "increase the likelihood of". That is the primary sense; the word has 2 in total, listed in full on this page.

What is another word for ask for?

Close synonyms include invite, request, bespeak, call for, quest. Each sense on this page lists its own synonyms, because a word with several meanings rarely has one substitute that works for all of them.

Is ask for a common word?

ask for is banded "Familiar" — widely understood, used when the subject calls for it. The band comes from how often the word appears in a large corpus of everyday English, not from an editor's impression.