to ask for
133
2.3
- phrasal verb
- /æsk fɔr/
- Informal
:
buscarse problemas
- - Those girls are just asking for trouble.
And choosing men like this is just asking for disaster.
- And choosing men like this is just asking for disaster.
- And so kicking the can down the road is just asking for more problems.
- However, if you simply rely on that to solve the issue, then you're asking for more problems.
- So when you're eating a high carbohydrate diet you are asking for, you're praying for hyperinsulinemia.
Examples
-
And choosing men like this is just asking for disaster.
-
If you keep provoking him, you're asking for a fight.
-
It's in your nature to ask for trouble.
-
To ask for all this at once is to ask for too much, too soon.
Academic text (2002) -
Asking about stuff like that means you are asking for real trouble.
Fiction book (1999) -
If we let Cobretti use his tactics, we're asking for trouble.
-
Those girls are just asking for trouble by teasing the dog.
-
Choosing to drive without a seatbelt is really asking for an accident.
Synonyms
89
5.8
To make something bad more likely to happen
36
5.4
Behave in a way that causes trouble for yourself
19
7.8
To act in a way that makes trouble or harm likely
12
4.8
Act in a way likely to cause problems
Antonyms
How Likely
Surface Forms
Morphology
The verb 'ask' combined with 'for' is used metaphorically here to mean 'invite' or 'bring about', so knowing the constituents gives a partial clue to the idea of causing something. However, the specific idiomatic collocation 'ask for trouble' (i.e. behave so as to make trouble likely) is a metaphorical extension that is not fully predictable from the parts and typically requires exposure, so it is only partially transparent to B1 learners.
Etymology
Ask for in the saying 'ask for trouble' comes from the idea of inviting trouble by your actions, as if you were asking it to come. So it means 'to make trouble likely'.