Definition of QUERY

Choose the Right Synonym for query

Verb

ask, question, interrogate, query, inquire mean to address a person in order to gain information. ask implies no more than the putting of a question. ask for directions question usually suggests the asking of series of questions. questioned them about every detail of the trip interrogate suggests formal or official systematic questioning. the prosecutor interrogated the witness all day query implies a desire for authoritative information or confirmation. queried a librarian about the book inquire implies a searching for facts or for truth often specifically by asking questions. began to inquire of friends and teachers what career she should pursue

Examples of query in a Sentence

Noun

I have a query about my order. The librarian responded to my query.

Verb

They conducted a survey in which several hundred people were queried about their dietary habits. it seems odd that someone would want two stoves, so you'd better query that order

Recent Examples on the Web: Noun

The press tossed out a few seemingly innocuous questions, asking whether the newborn was sleeping well and the like, but one query really caught Jenna off guard. — Caroline Picard, Good Housekeeping, "Jenna Bush Hager Just Called out the Royal Baby Reporters for Their Ridiculous Questions," 9 May 2019 Parisian Love by Google, 2010 This Google ad tells the love story of a foreign exchange student in Paris, showing search queries typed on a computer screen. — Vogue, "The 13 Most Iconic Super Bowl Ads of All Time," 31 Jan. 2019 In response to queries from The Wall Street Journal, Huawei said data-sharing demands contained in China’s recently implemented cybersecurity and counterterror laws apply to network operators, not telecom-equipment providers like Huawei. — Josh Chin, WSJ, "U.S. Believes It Doesn’t Need to Show ‘Proof’ Huawei Is a Spy Threat," 23 Jan. 2019 Google The Easter eggs continue over to the Search bar, where queries from the early days of the internet bring up gentle suggestions for more modern phrases. — Dami Lee, The Verge, "Google Search celebrates 20 years with Street View tour of 1998 garage office," 27 Sep. 2018 Cambridge declined to confirm any affiliation, citing privacy, and the Sorbonne and New York University didn't immediately respond to queries. — Fox News, "The Latest: Italy PM pick had 'no official status' at NYU," 22 May 2018 The Dalian court and prosecutors’ office didn’t immediately respond to queries. — Chun Han Wong, WSJ, "China Defends Canadian’s Death Sentence as Huawei Tensions Simmer," 15 Jan. 2019 Cambridge declined to confirm any affiliation, citing privacy, and the Sorbonne and New York University didn’t immediately respond to queries. — Washington Post, "5-Star Movement defends Italian premier candidate’s resume," 23 May 2018 Tan Jee Toon joined RHB Asset Management last month as chief investment officer of Asia Pacific equities, the firm said in an emailed response to Bloomberg queries. — Andrea Tan, Bloomberg.com, "RHB Loses Two Senior M&A Bankers in Latest Departures," 11 May 2018

Recent Examples on the Web: Verb

The researchers queried Jews about a variety of religious and cultural practices. — Julie Zauzmer, Washington Post, "D.C. area’s Jewish population is booming: Now the third largest in the nation, report says," 13 Feb. 2018 Commissioned by Euro-NCAP and Thatcham, a research company started by the automotive insurance industry, the poll queried 1,567 car owners from China, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, the UK, and the US. — Sean O'kane, The Verge, "Tesla stopped promoting the ‘Full Self-Driving’ option for its cars," 20 Oct. 2018 Kane admitted that the duo had not wanted to part of the Liverpool or Southampton squads moving forward, and queried why either side should have kept the pair against their will either now or last summer. — SI.com, "Harry Kane Reveals Spurs Trophy Ambitions & What Club Need to Do to Keep Him," 8 Jan. 2018 GraphQL, a language for querying databases created by Facebook in 2012, is being spun out into an open-source foundation,. — Casey Newton, The Verge, "How Democrats’ victory in the midterms will be good for Facebook," 8 Nov. 2018 If the crime involves offshore accounts or companies, U.S. officials have to query the governments of those countries to get information. — Jeff Andrews, Curbed, "Why financial criminals use real estate to launder money," 10 Aug. 2018 Though the mayor’s office declined to talk about the reports filed, other city departments were more forthcoming when queried by The Times. — Dakota Smith, latimes.com, "Mayor's office won't talk about 'inappropriate behavior' among Garcetti staff," 18 June 2018 Xiao was able to determine within a few seconds of querying the public LocationSmart service the near-exact location of the mobile phone belonging to all five of my sources. — Dan Goodin, Ars Technica, "Website leaked real-time location of most US cell phones to almost anyone," 17 May 2018 Each airline’s 10 busiest long routes and 10 busiest medium-length routes, both domestic and international, are queried to get the fullest picture of award availability. — Scott Mccartney, WSJ, "Top Frequent-Flier Programs for 2018," 16 May 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'query.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.