INQUIRY

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does inquiry mean? 

• INQUIRY (noun)
  The noun INQUIRY has 3 senses:

1. a search for knowledge

2. an instance of questioning

3. a systematic investigation of a matter of public interest

  Familiarity information: INQUIRY used as a noun is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• INQUIRY (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A search for knowledge

Classified under:

Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents

Synonyms:

enquiry; inquiry; research

Context example:

their pottery deserves more research than it has received

Hypernyms ("inquiry" is a kind of...):

problem solving (the thought processes involved in solving a problem)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "inquiry"):

nature study (the study of animals and plants in the natural world (usually at an elementary level))

experiment; experimentation (the testing of an idea)

empirical research (an empirical search for knowledge)

investigation; probe (an inquiry into unfamiliar or questionable activities)

canvass; opinion poll; poll; public opinion poll (an inquiry into public opinion conducted by interviewing a random sample of people)

heraldry (the study and classification of armorial bearings and the tracing of genealogies)

Sense 2

Meaning:

An instance of questioning

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Synonyms:

enquiry; inquiry; interrogation; query; question

Context example:

we made inquiries of all those who were present

Hypernyms ("inquiry" is a kind of...):

inquiring; questioning (a request for information)

Derivation:

inquire (address a question to and expect an answer from)

Sense 3

Meaning:

A systematic investigation of a matter of public interest

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

enquiry; inquiry

Hypernyms ("inquiry" is a kind of...):

investigating; investigation (the work of inquiring into something thoroughly and systematically)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "inquiry"):

means test (an inquiry into the financial position of someone applying for financial aid)

inquest (an inquiry into the cause of an unexpected death)

Derivation:

inquire (conduct an inquiry or investigation of)

 Context examples 

My hurried inquiry if I might peep in, was answered with a free permission; and, looking through the glass, I saw her sitting at her work.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

Then his eyes would turn to Jo so wistfully that she would have surely answered the mute inquiry if she had seen it.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

There was a certain method in the Count's inquiries, so I shall try to put them down in sequence; the knowledge may somehow or some time be useful to me.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

She looked at me, and I looked inquiry back.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

I really have made no inquiries on the subject.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Do you find Bath as agreeable as when I had the honour of making the inquiry before?

(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)

A few inquiries began: but one of the earliest—“How did sister Bertram manage about her servants?

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)

A very friendly inquiry after Miss Fairfax, she hoped, might lead the way to a return of old feelings.

(Emma, by Jane Austen)

"And who is Admiral Croft?" was Sir Walter's cold suspicious inquiry.

(Persuasion, by Jane Austen)

"The carrier, no doubt," I thought, and ran downstairs without inquiry.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)