Meaning & use
interrogating
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“interrogating” is a form of “interrogate”. See that entry for the full set of meanings.
Meanings
verbtransitive
Asking someone many sharp, detailed questions, usually in an official setting, to force out facts or an admission.
Grammar: Takes a person as object: interrogating a suspect.
Patterns
- interrogate someone about something
- interrogate someone for hours
Detectives spent six hours interrogating the main suspect.
The captured soldier was interrogating no one; he was the one being questioned.
Officers are interrogating several witnesses about the break-in.
verbtransitiveinformalfigurative
Questioning someone in a pushy, suspicious way, as if they must justify themselves.
Grammar: Informal and often humorous: interrogating a teenager about homework.
Patterns
- interrogate someone about something
My aunt kept interrogating me about my plans for the summer.
Stop interrogating your brother; he already said he was sorry.
verbtransitivetechnical
Examining a set of data or a text closely to draw out what it shows or assumes.
Grammar: Takes a thing as object: interrogating the data.
Patterns
- interrogate something
The researchers are interrogating the survey results for hidden patterns.
She spent the semester interrogating the assumptions behind the theory.
Word forms
| third person singular | interrogates |
|---|---|
| past tense | interrogated |
| past participle | interrogated |
| -ing form | interrogating |
Common combinations
- interrogating a suspect
- The police are interrogating a suspect in connection with the fire.
- interrogating a witness
- The lawyer enjoyed interrogating the witness on the stand.
- interrogating the data
- She is interrogating the data to find errors.
- interrogating a prisoner
- Guards were accused of interrogating prisoners illegally.
- relentlessly interrogating
- The reporter was relentlessly interrogating the minister.
Synonyms and how they differ
- questioning
- Questioning is the neutral word and can be gentle, while interrogating is tougher and often official.
- grilling
- Grilling is informal and stresses pressure and persistence, even in everyday situations.
- cross-examining
- Cross-examining belongs to courtrooms and means testing the other side's witness.
- quizzing
- Quizzing is lighter and often playful, as when a friend quizzes you on your date.
Word family
- interrogation noun
- a long session of hard questioning
- interrogator noun
- a person who questions someone closely
- interrogative adjective
- expressing a question, as in an interrogative sentence
- interrogate verb
- the base form of the verb
Commonly confused: interrogating or interrupting?
interrogating vs interrupting
Interrupting means breaking into someone's speech; it has nothing to do with questioning them.
Practice
Which situation best fits 'interrogating'?
Choose one answer.
Interrogating implies close, forceful questioning, usually in an official setting. The other situations involve ordinary, friendly questions.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “interrogating”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.