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"inquire" is also used as a crossword clue. If that's what you saw, the answer is often ask (3 letters).
Definitions
have a wish or desire to know something
Word origin
From Latin inquīrō (“to seek for”), composed of in- (“in, at, on; into”) + quaerō (“to seek, look for”), of uncertain origin, but possibly from Proto-Italic *kʷaizeō, from Proto-Indo-European *kʷeh₂- (“to acquire”). Displaced Middle English enqueren (from Old French enquerre, of the same source) and native Middle English speir (“ask, inquire”).
Used in a sentence
“May I inquire to whom I have the honor of speaking?”
“Police are already inquiring into the incident.”
“It is these people, gentlemen, the disseminators of these rumours, who are my dangerous accusers; because those who hear them suppose that anyone who inquires into such matters must be an atheist.”
Source: Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0
Used as a crossword answer1 curated clues
01“Ask formally”7 letters
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