Idiom
ask for it
Meaning
To provoke an unwanted action; to invite a problem or fail to prevent one.
Meaning adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Examples
“He keeps teasing her, so he's asking for it.”
“Leaving your bike unlocked in this neighborhood is really asking for it.”
“By openly mocking the powerful senator during the hearing, the young journalist was practically asking for it.”
Examples
simple
“He keeps teasing her, so he's asking for it.”
contextual
“Leaving your bike unlocked in this neighborhood is really asking for it.”
complex
“By openly mocking the powerful senator during the hearing, the young journalist was practically asking for it.”
Key words
Related idioms
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