querulous 
Warlike, ready to fight, querulous, and mischievous. 
Holland. 
The cock his crested helmet bent, 
And down his querulous challenge sent. 
H'/iittier, Snow-Bound. 
= Syn. 1 and 2. See plaintive and petulant. 
Querulously (kwer'ij-lus-li), adv. In a queru- 
lous or complaining manner. 
querulousness (kwer'o-lus-nes), n. The state 
of being querulous; disposition to complain, or 
2d pers. sing. impv. of quserere, seek, search for, 
ask, inquire : much used as a marginal note or 
memorandum to indicate a question or doubt, 
and hence taken as a noun: see quest.'] A 
question ; an inquiry to be answered or resolved ; 
specifically, a doubt or challenge, as of a writ- 
ten or printed statement, represented by the 
interrogation-point (?), or by an abbreviation, 
q., qy., or qti., or by both. 
This name of Sion, Silon, or Siam may worthily moue a 
queen to Geographers. Purchas, Pilgrimage, p. 459. 
Answer'd all queries touching those at home 
With a heaved shoulder and a saucy smile. 
Tennyson, Aylmer's Field. 
= Syn. Inquiry, Interrogation, etc. See question. 
query (kwe'ri), v. ; pret. and pp. queried, ppr. 
querying. [< query, n.] I. intrans. To put a 
query; ask a question or questions; express 
doubt. 
Three college sophs, . . . 
Each prompt to query, answer, and debate. 
Pope, Dunciad, ii. 381. 
He queried, and reasoned thus within himself. 
S. Parker, Bibliotheca Biblica, 1. 394. 
H. trans. 1. To mark with a query ; express 
a desire to examine as to the truth of. 
This refined observation delighted Sir John, who digni- 
fies it as an axiom, yet afterwards came to doubt it with 
a " sed de hoc quaere " query this ! 
I. D 'Israeli, Curios, of Lit., II. 384. 
It [Chelsea College] was afterwards repurchased by that 
monarch (but query if purchase money was ever paid). 
IT. and Q., 7th ser., V. 186. 
2. To seek by questioning ; inquire or ask : as, 
to query the sum or amount; to query the mo- 
tive or the fact. 
We shall not proceed to query what truth there is in 
palmistry. Sir T. Browne, Vulg. Err., v. 24. 
3. To examine by questions; address queries 
to: as, to query a person. Gayton. 
quesal, n. Same as quetzal. 
queset (kwez), v. t. [< L. quxsere, seek, beg, 
ask, var. of quserere, seek, ask : see quest 1 .} To 
search after ; look for. Milton. [Rare.] 
quesitive (kwes'i-tiv), a. [< ML. qusesitivus, 
seeking, desirous, < L. quserere, pp. qusesitus, 
seek, inquire: see quest 1 . Cf. inquisitive.] In- 
terrogatory Quesitive quantity. See quantity. 
quest 1 (kwest), n. [< ME. queste, < OF. queste, 
F. quete = Pr. questa, quista = It. chiesta, < 
ML. qusesta, < L. qusesita (sc. res), a thing 
sought, qusesitum, a question, fern, or neut. 
of qusesitus, pp. of quserere, also qusesere, OL. 
quairere, seek, search for, seek to get, desire, 
get, acquire, obtain, seek to learn, ask, inquire, 
etc. From the same L. verb are ult. E. que- 
renft, query, question, acquire, conquer, exquire, 
inquire, perquire, require, acquest, conquest, in- 
quest, request, etc., exquisite, perquisite, inquisi- 
tion, perquisition, requisition, etc. In def. 6 
quest is in part an aphetic form of inquest.] 1. 
The act of seeking ; search ; pursuit ; suit. 
The Bassa of Sidon's servants, who were abroad in 
quest of Mules for the service of their Master. 
Maundrell, Aleppo to Jerusalem, p. 32. 
Her sunny locks 
Hang on her temples like a golden fleece ; . . . 
And many Jasons come in quest of her. 
Shak., M. of V.,I. 1.172. 
Greek pirates, roving, like the corsairs of Barbary, in 
quest of men, laid the foundations of Greek commerce. 
Bancroft, Hist. U. S., I. 127. 
2. An act of searching or seeking, as for a par- 
ticular object: as, the quest of the holy grail. 
Thei entred in to many questes for to knowe whiche was 
the beste knyght. Merlin (E. E. X. S.X iii. 503. 
A long and wearisome quest of spiritual joys, which, for 
all he knows, he may never arrive to. 
Bp. Atterbury, Sermons, I. xi., Pref. 
And those that had gone out upon the Quest, 
Wasted and worn, and but a tithe of them, 
And those that had not, stood before the King. 
Tennyson, Holy Grail. 
3. A body of searchers collectively; a search- 
ing party. 
The senate hath sent about three several quests 
To search you out. Shak.. Othello, i. 2. 46. 
4907 
4. Inquiry; examination. 
Volumes of report 
Run with these false and most contrarious quests 
Upon thy doings. Shak., M. for M., iv. 1. 62. 
5. Request; desire; solicitation; prayer; de- 
mand. 
Gad not abroad at every quest and call 
Of an untrain'd hope or passion. 
G. Herbert, The Temple, Content. 
6. A jury of inquest; a sworn body of exam- 
iners ; also, an inquest. 
By God, my maister lost c. marc by a seute of Margyt 
Bryg upon a defence of atteynt, because a quest passed 
ayenst hyr of xij. penyworth lond by yeer. 
Paston Letters, I. 404. 
Thejudge at the empanelling of the quest had his grave 
looks. Latimer, 5th Sermon bef. Edw. VI., 1549. 
The quest of jury-men was call'd. 
Sir Hugh of the Grime (Child's Ballads, VI. 249). 
What lawful quest have given their verdict up 
Unto the frowning judge? Shak., Rich. III., i. 4. 189. 
xii. they must be to make an enqueet or, as some call it, a 
quest. An enquest or quest is called a lawfull kind of trial! 
by xii. men. Smith, Commonwealth, ii. 18. (Richardson.) 
Crowner'S quest. See erownerV. Kirby's quest, an 
ancient record remaining with the remembrancer of the 
Exchequer : so called from its being the inquest of John 
de Kirby, treasurer of King Edward I. Rapalje and Law- 
rence. 
quest 1 (kwest), v. [< ME. questen, < OF. ques- 
ter, F. que'ter, seek, < queste, a seeking: see 
quest,n.] I, intrans. 1. To go in search ; make 
search or inquiry; pursue. 
And that the Prelates have no sure foundation in the 
Gospell, their own guiltinesse doth manifest ; they would 
not else run questing up as high as Adam, to letch their 
original!, as tis said one of them lately did in publick. 
Milton, Church-Government, i. 3. 
How soon they were recognized by grammarians ought 
to be ascertainable at the expense of a few hours' questing 
in such a library as that of the British Museum. 
P. Hall, Mod. Eng., p. 326. 
2. To go begging. 
He (Samuel Johnson] dined on venison and champagne 
whenever he had been so fortunate as to borrow a guinea. 
If his questing had been unsuccessful, he appeased the rage 
of hunger with some scraps of broken meat. 
Macaulay, in Encyc. Brit., XIII. 722. 
There was another old beggar-woman down in the town, 
questing from shop to shop, who always amused me. 
Prater' t Mag. 
3. To give tongue, as a dog on the scent of 
game. 
To bay or quest as a dog. Florio, p. 1. (HalliweU.) 
Pup. They are a covey soon scattered, methink ; who 
sprung them, I marie? 
Town. Marry, yourself, Puppy, for aught I know ; you 
quested last. B. Jonson, Gipsies Metamorphosed. 
As some are playing young Spaniels, quest at every bird 
that rises ; so others, held very good men, are at a dead 
stand, not knowing what to doe or say. 
N. Ward, Simple Cobler, p. 19. 
While Redmond every thicket round 
Tracked earnest as a questing hound. 
Scott, Rokeby, iv. 31. 
II. trans. 1. To search or seek for ; inquire 
into or examine. [Rare.] 
They quest annihilation's monstrous theme. 
Byrom, Enthusiasm. 
2. To announce by giving tongue, as a dog. 
Not only to give notice that the dog is on game, but also 
the particular kind which he is questing. 
Dogs of Great Britain and America, p. 111. 
quest 2 (kwest), n. Same as queest. 
questantt (kwes'tant), n. [< OF. questant, F. 
que'tant, ppr. of quester, F. gutter, seek: see 
quest 1 , v.] A candidate ; a seeker of any ob- 
ject ; a competitor. 
When 
The bravest questant shrinks, find what you seek, 
That fame may cry you loud. 
Shak., All's Well, ii. 1. 16. 
quest-dovet (kwest'duv), n. Same as queest. 
Panurge halved and fixed upon a great stake the horns 
of a roe-buck, together with the skin and the right fore- 
foot thereof, . . . the wings of two bustards, the feet of 
four quest-doves, . . . and a goblet of Beauvois. 
Urquhart, tr. of Rabelais, ii. 27. (Daviei.) 
quester (kwes'ter), . [< OF. questeur, F. que- 
teur, < L. qusesitor, a seeker, < quserere, pp. 
qiieesitus, seek : see quest 1 , v. Cf. questor.] 1. 
A seeker; a searcher. 2. A dog employed to 
find game. 
The quester only to the wood they loose, 
Who silently the tainted track pursues. 
llntce, tr. of Lucan's Pharsalla, iv. 
questful (kwest'ful), a. [< quesft + -ful.] Full 
of quest ; searching ; investigating. 
The summer day he spent in questful round. 
Lowell, Invita Minerva. 
quest-houset (kwest'hous), n. The chief watch- 
nouse of a parish, generally adjoining a church, 
where sometimes quests concerning misde- 
question 
meanors and annoyances were held. Hatti- 
u-ell. 
A hag, repair'd with vice-complexion'd paint, 
A quest-house of complaint. 
Quarles, Emblems, ii. 10. 
questing-Stonet, < [Appar. < "questing, verbal 
n. of "quest, rub (< MD. quisten, nib, rub away, 
spend, lavish, D. kuisten, spend, lavish), + 
stone.] A stone used for rubbing or polish- 
ing (?). 
Laden with diuersegoodsandmarchandises, . . . name- 
ly with the hides of oxen and of sheepe, with butter, 
masts, sparres, boordes, questiny-stones, and wilde werke. 
Hakluyt's Voyages, I. 168. 
question (kwes'chon), M. [< ME. question, ques- 
tioun, < OF. question, F. question = Pr. questio, 
question = Sp. cuestion = Pg. questSo = It. 
questione, quistione, < L. queestio(n-), a seeking, 
investigation, inquiry, question, < quserere, pp. 
qusesitus, ML. queestus, seek, ask, inquire : see 
mtesft.] 1. The act of interrogation ; the put- 
ting of inquiries: as, to examine by question 
and answer. 
Ross. What sights, my lord? 
Lady M. I pray you, speak not ; he grows worse and 
worse ; 
Question enrages him. Shak., Macbeth, iii. 4. 118. 
Leodogran . . . ask'd, 
Fixing full eyes of question on her face, . . . 
" But thou art closer to this noble prince?" 
Tennyson, Coming of Arthur. 
2. That which is asked; an inquiry; a query; 
the expression of a desire to know something 
indicated more or less definitely. In grammar, 
questions are classed as (1) direct (independent) : as, John 
is here? isJohn here? who is that? (2) indirect (dependent), 
taking the form of an object-clause : as, he asks if John is 
here ; he asks who that is ; (3) simple : as, is that man a 
soldier? (4) double (alternative, compound, disjunctive) : as, 
is that man a soldier or a civilian ? (5) indirect double : as, he 
asks whether that man is a soldier or not ; (6) deliberative 
or doubting: as, shall I do it? shall we remain? (7) posi- 
tive: as, is that right? with emphasis on the verb this 
expects the answer "No"; (8) negative: as, is not that 
right? this expects the answer " Yes." 
Answer me 
Directly unto this question that I ask. 
SAa*-.,lHen. IV., ii. 3.89. 
None but they doubtless who were reputed wise had 
the Question propounded to them. 
Milton, Eikonoklastes, xxviii. 
3. Inquiry; disquisition; discussion. 
It is ... to be put to question . . . whether it be lawful 
for Christian princes or states to make an invasive war 
only and simply for the propagation of the faith. 
Bacon, An Advt. Touching an Holy War. 
4. The subject or matter of examination or in- 
vestigation ; the theme of inquiry ; a matter 
discussed or made the subject of disquisition. 
Now in things, although not commanded of God, yet 
lawful because they are permitted, the question is what 
light shall shew us the couveniency which one hath above 
another. Hooker, Eccles. Polity, ii. 4. 
The question of his [Csesar's] death is enrolled in the 
Capitol ; his glory not extenuated, . . . nor his offences 
enforced. Shak., J. C., iii. 2. 41. 
The press and the public at large are generally so oc- 
cupied with the questions of the day that . . . the more 
general aspects of political questions are seldom . . . con- 
sidered. Nineteenth Century, XXVI. 733. 
5. Dispute or subject of debate; a point of 
doubt or difficulty. 
There arose a question between some of John's disciples 
and the Jews about purifying. John iii. 25. 
To be, or not to be : that is the question. 
Shak., Hamlet, iii. 1. 56. 
6. Doubt ; controversy ; dispute : as, the story 
is true beyond all question. 
Our own earth would be barren and desolate without 
the benign influence of the solar rays, which without 
question is true of all other planets. Bentley, 
Had they found a linguist half so good, 
I make no question but the tower had stood. 
Pope, Satires of Donne, iv. 85. 
In a work which he was, no question, acquainted with, 
we read ... F. Hall, Mod. Eng., p. 178. 
7. Judicial trial or inquiry; trial; examina- 
tion. 
He that was in question for the robbery. 
Shak., 2 Hen. IV., i. 2. 68. 
Mr. Endecott was also left out, and called into question 
about the defacing the cross in the ensign. 
Winthrop, Hist. New England, I. 188. 
8. Examination by torture, or the application 
of torture to prisoners under criminal accusa- 
tion in order to extort confession. 
Such a presumption is only sufficient to put the person 
to the rack or question, . . . and not bring him to con- 
demnation. Ayli/e, Parergon. 
A master, when accused, could offer his slaves for the 
question, or demand for the same purpose the slaves of an- 
other ; and, if in the latter case they were injured or killed 
in the process, their owner was indemnified. 
Encyc. Brit., XXII. 132. 
