1. Express the need or desire for
   "when you call, always ask for Mary";
   - request, bespeak, call for
    
2. Increase the likelihood of
   "ask for trouble";
   - invite

Derived forms: asking for, asks for, asked for

Type of: arouse, communicate, elicit, enkindle [literary], evoke, kindle, pass, pass along, pass on, provoke, put across, raise