interrogatein‧ter‧ro‧gate /ɪnˈterəɡeɪt/ verb [transitive] 
Word Origin Examples
The police interrogated the suspect for several hours.► see thesaurus at ask—interrogator noun [countable]: He refused to tell his interrogators anything.
Word OriginWORD ORIGINinterrogate
Verb TableOrigin:
1400-1500 Latin past participle of interrogare, from rogare ‘to ask’VERB TABLE
interrogate
| Simple Form | ||
| Present | I, you, we, they | interrogate |
| he, she, it | interrogates | |
| Past | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | interrogated |
| Present perfect | I, you, we, they | have interrogated |
| he, she, it | has interrogated | |
| Past perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | had interrogated |
| Future | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will interrogate |
| Future perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will have interrogated |
| Continuous Form | ||
| Present | I | am interrogating |
| he, she, it | is interrogating | |
| you, we, they | are interrogating | |
| Past | I, he, she, it | was interrogating |
| you, we, they | were interrogating | |
| Present perfect | I, you, we, they | have been interrogating |
| he, she, it | has been interrogating | |
| Past perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | had been interrogating |
| Future | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will be interrogating |
| Future perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will have been interrogating |
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER DICTIONARIES
Thesaurus- Army officers have been accused of using unorthodox methods when interrogating enemy prisoners.
- During the war, he interrogated more than 150 prisoners of war.
- I was interrogated at length about my conversation with the two men.
- The police interrogated Waters for 24 hours until he confessed.
THESAURUSto ask someone about a crime► question/interview
Collocations to ask someone a lot of questions in order to get information about a crime: · He was arrested and questioned by the police.· Detectives are interviewing the father of the missing girl.
► interrogate to ask someone a lot of detailed questions, often in an aggressive way: · The men were interrogated by the US authorities for over six hours.
► cross-examine to ask someone questions in court about the statements they made: · A second lawyer began to cross-examine the witness.
► somebody is helping the police with their inquiries formal used in news reports when saying that the police are asking someone questions about a crime – especially when they think this person is guilty, but have not yet charged them: · He is helping the police with their inquiries in connection with the murder of Diane Jones.
► question to ask someone questions in order to get information about something such as a crime: · The police questioned him for three hours before releasing him without charge.· When questioned by reporters, he denied all knowledge about the affair.
► interrogate to keep asking a lot of questions for a long time, sometimes using threats, in order to get information: · He was interrogated by US agents about his alleged links to al-Qaeda.
► interview to ask someone questions for a newspaper, TV programme etc, or to ask someone questions to find out if they are suitable for a job, course etc: · Did you hear him being interviewed on ‘the Today Programme’?· The woman who interviewed me offered me the job.
► grill informal to ask someone a lot of difficult questions about something, in a way that is tiring or annoying: · She started grilling me about why I was so late coming home.
► cross-examine to ask someone a series of questions in court about their previous statements, in order to find out whether they have been telling the truth: · The defence lawyer cross-examined the witness in order to test his evidence.
► be helping police with their inquiries British English to be questioned by the police about a crime – used especially in news reports when the police think that this person may be guilty of the crime: · Last night, a 21-year-old woman was helping police with their inquiries.
Longman Language Activatorwhen the police, a court etc asks someone about a crime► question to ask someone a lot of questions to find out what they know about a crime: · They questioned her for three hours before releasing her.question somebody about something: · The lawyer questioned me about how money was transmitted to Mexico.question somebody closely (=carefully, asking a lot of difficult questions): · After questioning the suspect closely, investigators decided he was not a part of the drug operation.
► interrogate to keep asking a lot of questions for a long time, sometimes using threats, in order to get information: · The police interrogated Waters for 24 hours until he confessed.· Army officers have been accused of using unorthodox methods when interrogating enemy prisoners.interrogate somebody about something: · I was interrogated at length about my conversation with the two men.
► cross-examine also cross-question British if a lawyer cross-examines or cross-questions someone in a law court, they ask them a series of questions about their previous statements in order to find out whether they have been telling the truth: · The first lawyer cross-examined the defendant for over three hours.· When the witness was cross-questioned, it became clear that his earlier testimony was not entirely true.
► carry out door-to-door inquiries British if the police carry out door-to-door inquiries, they go to all the houses in a particular area to ask the people living there what they know about a crime: · Police are carrying out door-to-door inquiries on the Hazelwood Estate.
► be helping police with their inquiries to be formally being asked questions by the police about a crime - used especially in news reports about someone who the police think is guilty of a crime but who has not been officially charged: · A man is helping police with their inquiries after a mother and her young baby were found dead at their home last night.
COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES► question/interrogate/interview a suspect
to ask someone a lot of questions for a long time in order to get information, sometimes using threats SYN question: · Police confirmed that six suspects are being questioned.
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE CORPUSNOUN► database· The Library carries out literature searches on behalf of staff, by interrogating large bibliographic databases which are mounted on very large computers.· This provides a very flexible and economical method of accessing and interrogating the database of some 70000 samples.· An interactive system enables users to interrogate the database and to supply information, as well as drawing from it.
The police interrogated the suspect for several hours.► see thesaurus at ask—interrogator noun [countable]: He refused to tell his interrogators anything.