Meaning & use
query
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Meanings
nouncountable
A question, often asking for information or expressing a doubt about something.
Grammar: Often used with about or on: a query about the bill.
Patterns
- a query about something
- raise a query
- answer a query
I have a query about the dates on this invoice.
The help desk answers hundreds of customer queries every day.
Her only query was whether the room had a window.
nouncountablecomputing
A request for data sent to a database or search engine, written in a form the system can understand.
Grammar: Used with run, send or enter: run a query.
Patterns
- run a query
- a search query
- a database query
The analyst ran a query to find every order placed in March.
Typing a longer search query often gives better results.
The query returned more than two thousand records.
verbtransitive
To ask a question about something because you doubt it is correct or want to be sure.
Grammar: Takes an object: query the figures, query whether it is allowed.
Patterns
- query something
- query whether something is true
She queried the total on the bill and found a mistake.
The editor queried several claims in the article.
A few members queried whether the meeting needed to be held at all.
verbtransitivecomputing
To send a request to a database or system to get stored information from it.
Grammar: The object is the database or system: query the database.
Patterns
- query a database
- query a server
The app queries the server every few seconds for new messages.
You can query the table to see which users are active.
The script queries three databases at once.
Word forms
| plural | queries |
|---|---|
| third person singular | queries |
| past tense | queried |
| past participle | queried |
| -ing form | querying |
Common combinations
- raise a query
- If you notice a mistake, raise a query with the finance team.
- customer query
- Each customer query is logged and answered within a day.
- search query
- The site saves your last search query.
- handle a query
- Two staff members handle queries by phone.
- run a query
- He ran a query to count the unsold items.
Synonyms and how they differ
- question
- Question is the everyday word for anything asked, while query suggests a specific request for information or a mild doubt, often in business.
- inquiry
- Inquiry can mean a full formal investigation, which query rarely does.
- doubt
- Doubt describes a feeling of uncertainty, whereas a query is the act of voicing a question.
- challenge
- Challenge, used as a verb, is stronger and implies you disagree, while query merely asks for confirmation.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: query or inquiry? query or quarry?
query vs inquiry
Inquiry (or enquiry in British English) can be a formal investigation, while a query is usually a single question.
query vs quarry
Quarry sounds similar to some speakers but means an open pit for stone, or an animal being hunted.
Practice
Before approving the payment, the accountant decided to ____ the unusual amount.
Choose one answer.
To query something means to question whether it is correct. Answer and reply respond to a question rather than raise one, and quarrel means argue.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “query”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.