Online OXFORD Collocation Dictionary

question noun

¹ sentence, etc. that asks sth

ADJ. pointed, probing, searching He became embarrassed when a journalist asked him pointed questions about his finances. | awkward, difficult, embarrassing, tricky | personal | academic, hypothetical, rhetorical | leading, loaded The judge told him not to ask the witness leading questions. | good, pertinent, relevant | simple | daft, inane, silly, stupid | direct, straight I wanted to find out how old he was without asking him a direct question. | exam, multiple choice, quiz, test

VERB + QUESTION ask (sb) | have Have any of the audience got questions for our speaker? | address, put I'd like to put a question to the first speaker. | bombard sb with, fire The children bombarded us with questions. The interview panel fired questions at me from all angles. | frame, phrase I need to phrase my question rather carefully. | face | answer, reply to, respond to | do (used only about written questions) I couldn't do Question 6. | field The chairperson fielded technical questions that she could not answer herself. | evade, parry He skilfully parried all the interviewer's most probing questions.

PREP. ~ about She refused to answer questions about her private life. | ~ as to Don't be afraid to ask questions as to why things are done in the way they are. | ~ concerning/regarding/relating to The former minister faced questions concerning his role in the affair.

² issue

ADJ. burning, challenging, controversial, difficult, unanswerable, vexed We come now to the vexed question of pension rights. | crucial, fundamental, important, key | delicate, sensitive | economic, ethical, political, etc.

VERB + QUESTION bring up, pose, raise The new play poses some challenging questions. | consider, discuss, examine | address, deal with, face, tackle | answer, decide, find a solution to | come to

QUESTION + VERB arise | remain unanswered Only one question remains unanswered.

PREP. ~ about fundamental questions about the nature of our society | ~ for one of the crucial questions for the jury | ~ of questions of national security Now it's just a question of getting the wording of the statement right.

³ doubt

VERB + QUESTION come into | call into It does call into question the decision to send troops into the area. | be open to The government's handling of the whole affair remains open to question.

PREP. beyond ~ Her loyalty is beyond question. | in ~ His sincerity is not in question. | without ~ It was, without question, the worst day of my life. | ~ about There is no question about her enthusiasm for the job. | ~ as to I did have some questions as to his motive in coming.

question verb

ADV. closely, further

PREP. about She was closely questioned about her whereabouts on the night of the murder. | in connection with A man is being questioned in connection with the robbery. | on He was questioned on his role in the affair.