inquire of

English

Alternative forms

• enquire of

Verb

inquire of (third-person singular simple present inquires of, present participle inquiring of, simple past and past participle inquired of)

1. (transitive, US) To ask.

   If I do not know what their policy is, I should inquire of them.

   • 1840, George Lillie Craik, English Causes Célèbres, Or, Reports of Remarkable Trials, page 19:

     If you find them, or any of them, Guilty, you are to inquire whether they, or any of them, fled for it: if you find that they, or any of them, fled for it, you are to inquire of their goods and chattels, as if you had found them Guilty. If you find them, or any of them, Not Guilty, nor that they did fly for it, you are to say so, and no more, and hear your evidence.

   • 1872, United States. Congress. Joint Select Committee on the Condition of Affairs in the Late Insurrectionary States, Report of the Joint Select Committee to Inquire Into the Condition of Affairs in the Late Insurrectionary States: Testimony taken by the Joint Select Committee to inquire into the condition of affairs in the late insurrectionary states: South Carolina (June 6-July 27, 1871), page 477:

     Mr. G. Cannon, of Spartanburgh, offered the following resolution, which was agreed to: Resolved, That it be referred to the committee of eleven to inquire of the governor how many and what amount of bonds he has signed under the various acts authorizing the same, and what disposition has been made of said bonds.