query
- 01 B2 Upper Intermediate
n.a question you ask because you have a doubt or need more information.
n.a question, especially one expressing doubt or requesting information in a formal or professional context.
Simple“If you have a query about your bill, please call our customer service team.”
In context“The accounts department raised a query regarding the unexplained discrepancy in the quarterly financial report.”
- 02 C1 Advanced
n.a specific request for information from a computer database.
n.a precise set of instructions or commands used to retrieve, manipulate, or search for data within a database management system.
Simple“The database query took several minutes to run because there was so much data.”
In context“Optimising the SQL query significantly reduced the server load during peak traffic hours.”
- 03 B2 Upper Intermediate
v.to ask a question about something or to suggest that it might be wrong.
v.to express doubt about the accuracy or validity of something; to formally request information.
Simple“I need to query this charge on my credit card statement.”
In context“Several professors queried the methodology used in the study, suggesting the sample size was too small for such a broad conclusion.”
- 04 C1 Advanced
v.to use a computer to search for specific information in a large collection of data.
v.to perform a search or data retrieval operation on a database or information system.
Simple“You can query the system to find all customers who live in London.”
In context“The application allows users to query the central repository in real-time to check for inventory updates.”
“A number of broadcasters subsequently queried how Israel placed so highly.”
“He was wrong to report a Times Higher Education journalist, Jack Grove , to the police, on the basis of a series of emailed queries.”
An anglicisation of quere, an obsolete variant form of Latin quaere, second-person singular present active imperative of quaerō (“seek, look for; ask”); perhaps suffixed with -y (“abstract noun”). Cognate with French quérir, Italian chiedere, Portuguese querer, Romanian cere, and Spanish querer. Compare question.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.