What's the difference between ask and seek?

Ask


Definition:

  • (v. t.) To request; to seek to obtain by words; to petition; to solicit; -- often with of, in the sense of from, before the person addressed.
  • (v. t.) To require, demand, claim, or expect, whether by way of remuneration or return, or as a matter of necessity; as, what price do you ask?
  • (v. t.) To interrogate or inquire of or concerning; to put a question to or about; to question.
  • (v. t.) To invite; as, to ask one to an entertainment.
  • (v. t.) To publish in church for marriage; -- said of both the banns and the persons.
  • (v. i.) To request or petition; -- usually followed by for; as, to ask for bread.
  • (v. i.) To make inquiry, or seek by request; -- sometimes followed by after.
  • (n.) A water newt.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) Here we have asked whether protection from blood-borne antigens afforded by the blood-brain barrier is related to the lack of MHC expression.
  • (2) In a debate in the House of Commons, I will ask Britain, the US and other allies to convert generalised offers of help into more practical support with greater air cover, military surveillance and helicopter back-up, to hunt down the terrorists who abducted the girls.
  • (3) Collins said she asked Sullivan several questions, including who the women were.
  • (4) People should ask their MP to press the government for a speedier response.
  • (5) Mike Ashley told Lee Charnley that maybe he could talk with me last week but I said: ‘Listen, we cannot say too much so I think it’s better if we wait.’ The message Mike Ashley is sending is quite positive, but it was better to talk after we play Tottenham.” Benítez will ask Ashley for written assurances over his transfer budget, control of transfers and other spheres of club autonomy, but can also reassure the owner that the prospect of managing in the second tier holds few fears for him.
  • (6) I ask a friend to have a stab at, “down at cafe that does us butties”, and he said: “Something to do with his ass?” “Whose arse?” He looked panicked.
  • (7) Of the five committees asked to develop bills, four have completed their work, and the Senate Finance Committee announced today that it will move forward next week.
  • (8) The Hamilton-Wentworth regional health department was asked by one of its municipalities to determine whether the present water supply and sewage disposal methods used in a community without piped water and regional sewage disposal posed a threat to the health of its residents.
  • (9) Considerate touches includes the free use of cruiser bicycles (the best method of tackling the Palm Springs main drag), home-baked cookies … and if you'd like to get married, ask the manager: he's a minister.
  • (10) An age- and education-matched group of women with no family history of FXS was asked to predict the seriousness of problems they might encounter were they to bear a child with a handicapping condition.
  • (11) For example, 75% of them were asked about their family life, marital status and children in interviews.
  • (12) Other than failing to get a goal, I couldn’t ask for anything more.” From Lambert’s perspective there was an element of misfortune about the first and third goals, with Willian benefitting from handy ricochets on both occasions.
  • (13) But because current donor contributions are not sufficient to cover the thousands of schools in need of security, I will ask in the commons debate that the UK government allocates more.
  • (14) He had been just asked to open their new town hall, in the hope he might donate a Shakespeare statue.
  • (15) The information about her father's semi-brainwashing forms an interesting backdrop to Malala's comments when I ask if she ever wonders about the man who tried to kill her on her way back from school that day in October last year, and why his hands were shaking as he held the gun – a detail she has picked up from the girls in the school bus with her at the time; she herself has no memory of the shooting.
  • (16) After an introductory training program, the students asked the patients arriving at the hospital out-patient clinic for permission to observe them throughout the attendance given.
  • (17) When asked why the streets of London were not heaving with demonstrators protesting against Russia turning Aleppo into the Guernica of our times, Stop the War replied that it had no wish to add to the “jingoism” politicians were whipping up against plucky little Russia .
  • (18) In each of the clinics I visit I ask how much the surrogates are paid.
  • (19) Gwendolen Morgan, the lawyer at Bindmans dealing with the case, said: "We have grave concerns about the decision to use this draconian power to detain our client for nine hours on Sunday – for what appear to be highly questionable motives, which we will be asking the high court to consider.
  • (20) A subgroup of 40 patients was asked to complete a brief survey on medical care information and satisfaction.

Seek


Definition:

  • (a.) Sick.
  • (v. t.) To go in search of; to look for; to search for; to try to find.
  • (v. t.) To inquire for; to ask for; to solicit; to bessech.
  • (v. t.) To try to acquire or gain; to strive after; to aim at; as, to seek wealth or fame; to seek one's life.
  • (v. t.) To try to reach or come to; to go to; to resort to.
  • (v. i.) To make search or inquiry: to endeavor to make discovery.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont, who is also seeking the Democratic presidential nomination, recently proposed a bill that would ease the financial burden of prescription drugs on elderly Americans by allowing Medicare, the national social health insurance program, to negotiate with the pharmaceutical companies to keep prices down.
  • (2) Before issuing the ruling, the judge Shaban El-Shamy read a lengthy series of remarks detailing what he described as a litany of ills committed by the Muslim Brotherhood, including “spreading chaos and seeking to bring down the Egyptian state”.
  • (3) There have been numerous documented cases of people being forced to seek hospital treatment after eating meat contaminated with high concentrations of clenbuterol.
  • (4) In many cases, physicians seek to protect themselves from involvement with these difficult, highly anxious patients by making a referral to a psychiatrist.
  • (5) There was a 35% decrease in the number of patients seeking emergency treatment and one study put the savings in economic and social costs at just under £7m a year .
  • (6) The study included fifty children, aged six to fourteen years, selected from patients seeking routine dental care at Children's Hospital National Medical Center.
  • (7) But the comments of myself and others that I have seen have not criticised Islam but those who seek to hijack and misrepresent Islam,” he said.
  • (8) A series of 241 patients with subphrenic abscess was analysed to seek reasons for the continuing mortality.
  • (9) It will act as a further disincentive for women to seek help.” When Background Briefing visited Catherine Haven in February, the refuge looked deserted, and most of its rooms were empty, despite the town having one of the highest domestic violence rates in the state.
  • (10) She was provided medical treatment and encouraged and supported to seek counselling, including flights for that help to Nairobi.
  • (11) Substantial percentages of both physicians and medical students reported access to drugs, family histories of substance abuse, stress at work and home, emotional problems, and sensation seeking.
  • (12) "We must be clear that there can be no letup in our efforts to seek ways to remove Bill Walker from parliament," Rennie said.
  • (13) In 2013 it successfully applied for a Visa Innovation Grant , a fund for development and non-profit organisations seeking to adopt or expand the use of electronic payments to those living below the poverty line.
  • (14) It said: “We will be seeking to inform and encourage dialogue about Israel and the Palestinians in the wider cultural and creative community.
  • (15) It is understood that Labor, the Greens and the crossbench will seek to remove many of these additional measures, leaving the bill focused on the visa issue.
  • (16) Enright said: “We call on the home secretary and chair of IICSA [the independent inquiry into child sexual abuse] to engage actively and urgently to find a way forward that secures the confidence of survivors and provides the inquiry’s legal team with the resources and support they need to deliver justice and truth that survivors deserve.” Stein said his clients were “deeply disatisfied” with aspects of how the inquiry had been conducted but called for Emmerson to stay, adding: “I urge the home secretary to seek to find a way in which his valuable contribution can be maintained”.
  • (17) But Berlusconi and Sarkozy, seeking to curry favour with the strong far-right constituencies in both countries, sought to bury their differences by urging the rest of Europe to buy into their anti-immigration agenda.
  • (18) Photograph: Christopher Thomond for the Guardian Asked if Watson should seek to refresh his mandate after Corbyn’s overwhelming victory among members, McCluskey added: “Well, if Tom wants to try to refresh his mandate it would be interesting to see what happens.” Watson said it was time “to be proud of our party”, because the Conservatives were beatable and the prime minister, Theresa May, could call an election any time.
  • (19) Once you've invested many years in a career, figuring out how to take time out and then return to a role that's comparable to the one you left (or as comparable as you want it to be) requires more than confidence and enthusiasm - employers need to actively acknowledge the benefits of such breaks and be more receptive to those seeking to return”.
  • (20) No patient had a previous infarction, and none underwent intervention seeking to restore coronary patency.