query

A question you ask because you want information or need something explained.

• Please answer my query.
• She had a query about the bill.
• Our staff handle hundreds of queries every day.

How to use it: query about something (Please email us with any query about your booking.)

Similar words: question, inquiry

Common phrases: customer query, answer a query, query about something

Instructions sent to a computer database to find information or perform a task.

• This query finds all unpaid orders.
• The database returned no results for my query.
• Several queries failed because the server was busy.

Common phrases: database query, run a query, query results

To ask someone a question or ask for information about something.

• He queried the date of the meeting.
• The officer queried me about my journey.
• She queried whether we needed more chairs.

How to use it: query someone about something (The reporter queried the manager about the delay.); query whether… (She queried whether another room was available.)

Similar words: ask, question, inquire

Common phrases: query someone, query someone about something, query politely

To send instructions to a computer database to get information from it.

• You can query the database directly.
• The software queried every table for missing records.
• How often does this app query the server?

How to use it: query something for something (The program queries the database for matching addresses.)

Similar words: search

Common phrases: query a database, query the server, query for something