Emily Dickinson Lexicon

ASK, v.i.

1. To request or petition, followed by for; as, ask for bread; or without for. Ask, and it shall be given you. Matth. vii.
2. To inquire, or seek by request; sometimes followed by after. Wherefore dost thou ask after my name? – Gen. xxxii. This verb can hardly be considered as strictly intransitive, for some person or object is always understood. Ask is not equivalent to demand, claim, and require, at least, in modern usage; much less, is it equivalent to beg and beseech. The first three words, demand, claim, require, imply a right or supposed right in the person asking, to the thing requested; and beseech implies more urgency, than ask. Ask and request imply no right, but suppose the thing desired to be a favor. The French demander is correctly rendered by ask, rather than by demand.