Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
Definition: Questioning |
QuestioningAdjective1. Perplexed (as if being expected to know something that you do not know); "he had a quizzical expression". 2. Marked by or given to doubt; "a skeptical attitude"; "a skeptical listener". 3. Showing curiosity; "if someone saw a man climbing a light post they might get inquisitive"; "raised a speculative eyebrow". Noun1. A request for information. Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. |
Date "questioning" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1010. (references) |
| Domain | Definition |
Medicine | The dentist will be tempted to develop a further line of -/. Source: European Union. (references) |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
Synonyms: QuestioningSynonyms: doubting (adj), inquisitive (adj), quizzical (adj), sceptical (adj), skeptical (adj), speculative (adj), wondering(a) (adj), inquiring (n). (additional references) |
| Context | Synonyms within Context (source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus). |
Inquiry | Questioning; Verb: interrogation, |
| Source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus. | |
Crosswords: Questioning |
| English words defined with "questioning": catechise, catechize, challenge, cross-examination ♦ direct examination, disbelieving ♦ enquiry, examination ♦ implicitly, Inquirent, inquiry, intensive, interrogation, interrogatively, interview ♦ query, question, questioningly, quizzically ♦ redirect examination ♦ sceptical, skeptical, Socratic irony, swallow ♦ unbelieving ♦ wonderingly. (references) |
| Specialty definitions using "questioning": DEPUTY SHERIFF, GRAND JURY, deputy, grand jury, DIANETIC COUNSELOR, dianeticist ♦ HANGMAN ♦ I didn't change anything! ♦ Kinsey Special ♦ Lace, Lower House ♦ scientologist, scientology auditor ♦ to a first approximation. (references) |
| Etymologies containing "questioning": Erotesis. (references) |
| Domain | Usage | |
Screenplays | She's questioning your loyalty. (The American President; writing credit: Aaron Sorkin.) Her eyes alone told the story of her age, staring out from under her doll-like curls, with a questioning that will one day need an answer. (Interview with the Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles; writing credit: Anne Rice) Are you questioning me? (Stalag 17; writing credit: Donald Bevan; Edmund Trzcinski) Take him to the little room for questioning. (The Omega Man; writing credit: Richard Matheson; John William Corrington) | |
Movie/TV Titles | ||
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | ||
| Domain | Title | ||
Books |
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Theater & Movies | |||
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |||
| Thumbnail | Description & Credit | Thumbnail | Description & Credit |
 | Questioning a candidate. Credit: Library of Congress. |  | Questioning the woman witness before the jury. Credit: Library of Congress. |
 | Her eyes sought mine, full of a questioning dread. Credit: Library of Congress. |  | Questioning Russia. Credit: Library of Congress. |
 | Corrigan still questioning Dr. Adelson / NEA. Credit: Library of Congress. |  | Man in tuxedo questioning woman in cloak & gloves. Credit: Library of Congress. |
Source: pictures compiled by the editor from various references; see picture credits. | |||
| Author | Quotation |
Benjamin Disraeli | Without tact you can learn nothing. Tact teaches you when to be silent. Inquirers who are always questioning never learn anything. |
Euripides | Time will explain it all. He is a talker , and needs no questioning before he speaks. |
Samuel Johnson | Questioning is not the mode of conversation among gentlemen. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | |
| Author | Date | Quotation |
Miranda v. Arizona | 1966 | In all four cases, the questioning elicited oral admissions, and, in three of them, signed statements as well, which were admitted at their trials. (reference) |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
| Title | Author | Quote |
Les Miserables | Hugo, Victor | Their worship is questioning. |
Grapes of Wrath | Steinbeck, John | Ma watched the preacher as he ate, and her eyes were questioning, probing and understanding. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
| Subject | Topic | Quote |
Health | Questioning the benefits of mammography for women ages 40-49 may cause significant harm from delayed diagnosis. (references) | |
Business | One important aspect to consider that might affect not only Telgua but the industry in general is the present government's actions questioning the legality of Telgua's privatization. (references) | |
Children | Kyrgyz Republic | Police often do not notify parents of children who are arrested, and neither parents nor lawyers generally are present during questioning, despite laws to the contrary. (references) |
Civil Liberties | Cote d'Ivoire | The gendarmes released all six after questioning. (references) |
Yemen | In April al-Hadhri was detained for questioning by the PSO. (references) | |
Economic History | Sudan | After questioning Nimeiri's credentials to Islamicize Sudan's society, Ansar leader Sadiq al-Mahdi was placed under house arrest. (references) |
Lebanon | It also exercises political control over the cabinet through formal questioning of ministers on policy issues and by requesting a confidence debate. (references) | |
Cyprus | Additionally, in view of increasing competitive pressures and low productivity gains, more people in Cyprus are questioning the wisdom of practices such as fixed shopping hours, and the Cost of Living Allowance (COLA) wage indexation system. (references) | |
Human Rights | Honduras | Retired colonel Hernandez Santos was detained for questioning. (references) |
Macedonia | After further questioning and harassment, police released all without charges. (references) | |
Yugoslavia | Police abused suspects during arrest or while suspects were detained for questioning. (references) | |
Minorities | Malaysia | Public questioning of the preference rights of ethnic Malays is a sensitive issue. (references) |
Comoros | Christians have been harassed by mobs in front of mosques and summoned for questioning by religious authorities. (references) | |
Pakistan | Police detained 25 persons for questioning and imprisoned 13 others in connection with the killings; however, no charges had been filed against any of the suspects by year's end. (references) | |
Political Economy | Western Sahara | Both Moroccan and Polisario security forces at times subject travelers to arbitrary questioning. (references) |
Senegal | Police tortured and beat suspects during questioning and arbitrarily arrested and detained persons. (references) | |
Swaziland | Some communities, questioning the ability of National Police to operate effectively at the community level, have formed community police. (references) | |
Political Rights | Kuwait | In October various Assembly members proposed formal questioning of four Ministers. (references) |
Malaysia | Nonetheless, government officials often faced sharp questioning in Parliament, although this was not always reported in detail in the mainstream press. (references) | |
Kuwait | Liberal Assembly members complained that Islamists were using the threat of formal questioning to change government policy on specific issues, such as regulation of Islamic charities and gender segregation. (references) | |
Travel | Sri Lanka | Individuals who stay in a private household without registering may be temporarily detained for questioning. (references) |
Women | Kuwait | In July Islamist parliamentarians indicated that they would subject the Education Minister to formal questioning over the failure of the University to meet the deadline. (references) |
Kuwait | Leading the call for questioning were Assembly members who voted for the law in 1996. In October the Minister of Education submitted a report on measures already taken and future plans for gender segregation. (references) | |
Worker Rights | Russia | Union leaders have been followed by the security services, detained for questioning by police, and subjected to heavy fines, losses of bonuses, and demotions. (references) |
Georgia | Furthermore, on November 24, 2000, the day the conference began, special antiterrorist forces entered the home of Londa Kikharulidze, a union vice president, and took her son away for questioning. (references) | |
Indonesia | Police did not intervene to assist the participants, but instead broke up the conference and detained 2 local labor activists and 32 foreigners for questioning regarding possible immigration violations. (references) | |
Lexicography | Devil's Dictionary | HANGMAN, n. An officer of the law charged with duties of the highest dignity and utmost gravity, and held in hereditary disesteem by a populace having a criminal ancestry. In some of the American States his functions are now performed by an electrician, as in New Jersey, where executions by electricity have recently been ordered -- the first instance known to this lexicographer of anybody questioning the expediency of hanging Jerseymen. |
Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits. | ||
| Speaker | Phrase(s) |
Bob Meyers | We're doing very well. We certainly would prefer that the circumstance wouldn't be the way it is. But on the other hand, if we're having to face the situation, and we're going to do it by trusting God rather than questioning him, and that helps us. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| Speaker | Term | Phrase(s) |
Warren G. Harding | 1921-1923 | In a deliberate questioning of a suggested change of national policy, where internationality was to supersede nationality, we turned to a referendum, to the American people. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
| "Questioning" is generally used as a lexical verb (-ing form) -- approximately 69.66% of the time. "Questioning" is used about 889 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted) |
| Parts of Speech | Percent | Usage per 100 Million Words | Rank in English |
| Lexical Verb (-ing form) | 69.66% | 619 | 10,440 |
| Noun (singular) | 24.61% | 219 | 20,419 |
| Adjective (general or positive) | 4.27% | 38 | 55,818 |
| Noun (proper) | 1.46% | 13 | 97,576 |
| Total | 100.00% | 889 | N/A |
Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.
Expressions using "questioning": line of questioning ♦ without questioning. Additional references. | |
| Hypenated Usage | |
Ending with "questioning": self-questioning. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com. |
| Language | Translations for "questioning"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Albanian | pyetje (cross-question, enquiry, inquiry, interrogation, interrogatory, perquisition, quaere, query, question, request, requisition), marrje në pyetje. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Arabic | مستفهم, مستطلع, حب للإستطلاع, حب إستفهام, سائل (blob, liquid, pouring, run, running, runny, runny nose, streaming, thin, thinning). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Bulgarian | разпитване (enquiry, hearing, inquiry, inquisition, inquisitiveness, interrogation), разпит (catechism, inquisition, interrogation), въпросителен (inquiring, interrogative, interrogatory, quizzical). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Chinese | 问 (Questioned). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
French | interrogatoire général, interrogatoire (questionnaire), interrogation (question), interrogatif, interrogateur (questioner), anamnèse. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
German | fragend (asking, enquiring, inquiring, inquiringly, interrogating, interrogative, interrogatively, interrogatorily, interrogatory, prompting, querying, questioningly, quizzical, quizzically, requesting), Befragung (consultation, examination, survey). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Greek | προβληματισμόσ (problem, speculation), ερωτηματικόσ (interrogative, interrogatory). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Hebrew | תשאול (interrogation). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Hungarian | kikérdezés (debriefing, interrogation, query), kutató (appraising, explorative, exploratory, explorer, investigative, investigator, investigatory, researcher, scanner, searching), kihallgatás (audience, hearing, interrogation, interrogatory, listening, trial, trying), kérdezgetés, kérdezés (interrogation), kérdő (interrogative, interrogator), érdeklődő. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Indonesian | soal-jawab. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Italian | interrogativo (interrogative, query). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Japanese Kanji | 尋問 . (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Japanese Katakana | ふし"じ"も", じ"も" (civilization, cross examination, culture, humanity, interrogation, surrender to the enemy), はつも" (asking or putting a question). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Korean | 묻 (Asking). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Manx | keishtey (ask, interrogate; asking, interrogation, question), keishtaghey, feyshtaghey (interrogation), feyshtagh (catechetical, interrogative, problematic, problematical). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Norwegian | avhør. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Pig Latin | estioningquay interrogatório (cross-examination, interrogatory, quiz), interrogação (demand, query, question), ato de interrogar. (various references) întrebãtor (inquiring, inquiringly, interrogative, interrogatory, questioningly). (various references) расспрос, допрос (catechism, examination). (various references) upitan (inquiring, interrogative), ispitivanje (assaying, debriefing, examination, inquiry, interrogation, investigation, probe, quiz, scanning, scrutiny), ispitivački (examiner). (various references) vprašanja. (various references) preguntas (questions), interrogatorio (examination, interrogation, interrogatory, interview, quiz), interrogativo (interrogative). (various references) ifrågasätta (dispute, impeach, impugn, oppugn, propose, query, question). (various references) soru sorar gibi olan, sorgulama, soran (inquirer, inquiring), gensoru (interpellation). (various references) розпитування (inquiry), запитальний (inquiring), допит (interrogation, interrogatory). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Language | Period | Translations |
| Latin | 500 BCE-Modern | conquisitio, dubitatione, interrogatio, interrogatione, interrogationem, quaestio, quaestione, quaestionem, quaestiones, quaestionibus. (various references) |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
| Language | Date | Source | Mark Chapter 9, Verse 21 |
| Greek (transliterated) | 250 BC | Septuagint | Kai ephrwthsen ton patera autou posoV cronoV estin wV touto gegonen autw o de eipen paidioqen |
| Latin | 405 | Vulgate | Et frequenter eum et in ignem et in aquas misit ut eum perderet sed si quid potes adiuva nos misertus nostri |
| Old English | 990 | West Saxon | And þa axode he his fæder hu langetide is sydðan hym þis ge-byrede. Ðacwæð he of child-hade |
| Middle English | 1395 | Wyclif | And ofte he hath put hym in to fier, and in to watir, to leese hym; but if thou maiste ony thing, helpe vs, and haue merci on vs. |
| Renaissance English | 1526 | Tyndale | And he axed his father: how longe is it a goo sens this hath happened him? And he sayde of a chylde: |
| Jacobean English | 1611 | King James | And he asked his father, How long is it ago since this came unto him? And he said, Of a child. |
| Victorian English | 1833 | Webster | And he asked his father, How long is it since this came to him? and he said, From a child. |
| Basic English | 1964 | Ogden | And Jesus questioning the father said, How long has he been like this? And he said, From a child. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |||
| Language | Mark Chapter 9, Verse 21 |
| Cebuano | Ug si Jesus nangutana sa amahan niini, "Unsa na kadugay ang iyang pagkaingon niini?" Siya mitubag nga nag-ingon, "Sukad pa sa pagkabata. |
| Chinese | 耶 穌 問 他 父 親 說 、 他 得 這 病 、 有 多 少 日 子 呢 ． 回 " 說 、 從 小 的 時 候 。 |
| Croatian | Isus upita njegova oca: "Koliko je vremena kako mu se to dogaða?" On reèe: "Od djetinjstva! |
| Danish | Og han spurgte hans Fader: "Hvor længe er det siden, at dette er kommet over ham?" Men han sagde: "Fra Barndommen af; |
| Dutch | En Hij vraagde zijn vader: Hoe langen tijd is het, dat hem dit overkomen is? En hij zeide: Van zijn kindsheid af. |
| Finnish | Ja Jeesus kysyi hänen isältään: "Kuinka kauan aikaa tätä on hänessä ollut?" Niin hän sanoi: "Pienestä pitäen. |
| French | Jésus demanda au père: Combien y a-t-il de temps que cela lui arrive? Depuis son enfance, répondit-il. |
| Gaelic | Is dh` fhaighnich e dhe athair: De cho fad bho na thachair so dha? Is thuirt esan: Bho na bha e `na leanabh. |
| German | Und er fragte seinen Vater: Wie lange ist's, daß es ihm widerfahren ist? Er sprach: Von Kind auf. |
| Haitian Creole | Jezi mande papa a: -Depi konbe tan li konsa? Papa a reponn li: -Depi li tou piti wi. |
| Indonesian-Bahasa Sehari-hari | Lalu Yesus bertanya kepada bapaknya, "Sudah berapa lama ia begini?" "Sejak ia masih kecil!" jawab bapaknya. |
| Indonesian-Terjemahan Lama | Lalu Yesus bertanya kepada bapa budak itu, "Berapa lama sudah jadi demikian padanya?" Maka katanya, "Dari kecil. |
| Maori | Na ka ui ia ki tona matua, Ka pehea te roa o te mea nei ki a ia? Ka mea ia, No te tamarikitanga: |
| Norwegian | Og Jesus spurte hans far: Hvor lang tid har han hatt det slik? Han sa: Fra barndommen av; |
| Portuguese | E perguntou Jesus ao pai dele: Há quanto tempo sucede-lhe isto? Respondeu ele: Desde a infância; |
| Rumanian | Isus a kntrebat pe tatql lui: ,,Cktq vreme este de cknd ki vine awa?`` ,,Din copilqrie``, a rqspuns el. |
| Shuar | Túrunamtai Jesus ni Aparín aniasmiayi "¿Urutá yaunchu ainkiait?" Tutai ni apari Tímiayi "úchichik ainkiaiti. |
| Swahili | "Amepatwa na mambo hayo tangu lini?" Naye akamjibu, "Tangu utoto wake. |
| Swedish | Jesus frågade då hans fader: "Huru länge har det varit så med honom?" Han svarade: "Alltsedan han var ett litet barn; |
| Uma | Mepekune' -i Yesus hi tuama-na ana' toei, na'uli': "Hangkuja-mi hae-na narata haki' toi-e?" Na'uli' tuama-na: "Ngkai kakedia' -nami-hana. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
Derivations | |
Words ending with "questioning": counterquestioning, unquestioning. (additional references) | |
Words containing "questioning": unquestioningly. (additional references) | |
| |
"Questioning" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: questioni, questionning. (additional references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references). | |
| # of Phoneme Matches | Pronunciation | Word(s) rhyming with "questioning" (pronounced kwe"skhuning) |
| 9 | k w e" s kh u n i ng | unquestioning. |
| 4 | -u n i ng | abandoning, apportioning, auctioning, auditioning, awakening, bargaining, battening, beckoning, blackening, bludgeoning, brightening, broadening, burdening, burgeoning, captioning, cautioning, championing, cheapening, christening, coarsening, commissioning, conditioning, cushioning, dampening, darkening, deadening, deafening, decommissioning, deepening, determining, disciplining, disheartening, disillusioning, enlightening, envisioning, examining, fashioning, fastening, fattening, flattening, freshening, frightening, functioning, gardening, glistening, happening, hardening, hastening, heartening, heightening, imagining, imprisoning, jettisoning, leavening, lengthening, lessening, lightening, likening, listening, loosening, maddening, malfunctioning, margining, mentioning, motioning, opening, orphaning, pardoning, partitioning, petitioning, poisoning, positioning, provisioning, quickening, rationing, reasoning, reawakening, reckoning, reconditioning, reexamining, reopening, repositioning, ripening, ruining, saddening, sanctioning, seasoning, sectioning, sharpening, shortening, sickening, siphoning, slackening, softening, stationing, stiffening, straightening, strengthening, summoning, sweetening, thickening, threatening, tightening, toughening, vacationing, weakening, whitening, widening, worsening. |
| 3 | -n i ng | abstaining, adjoining, adjourning, aligning, ascertaining, assigning, attaining, awning, ballooning, banning, beginning, bemoaning, binning, boning, branning, brining, Browning, burning, campaigning, caning, Canning, careening, cartooning, chaining, chaperoning, churning, cleaning, cloning, clowning, cocooning, coining, combining, complaining, concerning, condoning, confining, conning, constraining, containing, convening, Corning, couponing, crooning, crowning, cunning, dawning, declining, defining, demeaning, Denning, designing, detaining, dining, Dinning, discerning, disdaining, divining, donning, Downing, draining, droning, drowning, Dunning, Durning, earning, enjoining, entertaining, evening, explaining, fanning, fawning, feigning, fining, finning, frowning, gaining, ginning, governing, greening, grinning, groaning, gunning, headlining, honing, Horning, housecleaning, impugning, inning, intertwining, intervening, intoning, ironing, jawboning, joining, Kenning, leaning, learning, lightning, lining, loaning, machining, maintaining, Manning, meaning, midmorning, mining, moaning, morning, mourning, obtaining, opining, ordaining, outlining, overrunning, overtraining, overturning, owning, panning, penning, pertaining, phoning, pining, pinning, planning, postponing, preening, preplanning, pruning, quarantining, raining, realigning, reassigning, reclining, redefining, redesigning, redlining, refining, refraining, regaining, reigning, reining, rejoining, relearning, remaining, rerunning, resigning, restraining, retaining, retraining, returning, rezoning, running, scanning, screening, shining, shunning, signing, sinning, spanning, spawning, spinning, spurning, staining, stoning, straining, streamlining, stunning, sunning, sustaining, swooning, tanning, telephoning, thinning, toning, training, tuning, turning, twining, underlining, undermining, underpinning, unreasoning, Vining, waning, warning, weaning, whining, wining, winning, yawning, yearning, zoning. |
Source: compiled by the editor (additional references); see credits. | ||
Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams | |
| Words within the letters "e-g-i-i-n-n-o-q-s-t-u" | |
-2 letters: ingenious, ingestion, squinting. | |
-3 letters: enginous, ginniest, inquiets, nonguest, questing, question, quieting, quinines, quinones, quintins, quoining, quoiting, snouting, unionise, unionist. | |
-4 letters: ensuing, guenons, gunites, gunnies, igneous, ignites, inosite, inquest, inquiet, insigne, intines, intones, nesting, neuston, noising, nonsuit, ousting, outings, outsing, quinine, quinins, quinone, quintes, quintin, quoting, seining, stoning, suiting, tensing, tension, tongues, tousing, tunings. | |
| Words containing the letters "e-g-i-i-n-n-o-q-s-t-u" | |
+2 letters: unquestioning. | |
+3 letters: requisitioning. | |
+4 letters: unquestioningly. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro. | |
| 1. Definition 2. Synonyms 3. Crosswords 4. Usage: Modern | 5. Usage: Commercial 6. Images: Slideshow 7. Images: Photo Album 8. Quotations: Familiar | 9. Quotations: Historic 10. Quotations: Fiction 11. Quotations: Non-fiction 12. Quotations: Spoken | 13. Quotations: Speeches 14. Usage Frequency 15. Expressions 16. Expressions: Internet | 17. Translations: Modern 18. Translations: Ancient 19. Bible Trace 20. Derivations | 21. Rhymes 22. Anagrams 23. Bibliography |
Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
