The Greek verb apostomatizo means to question closely, to interrogate carefully, or to make someone repeat things from memory (like making a student recite). It combines apo- (from) and stoma (mouth), literally meaning 'to draw out from the mouth.' It appears once in the New Testament in the context of the Pharisees' hostile questioning of Jesus.
Apostomatizo appears in Luke 11:53, where after Jesus' 'Woe to you' speech against the Pharisees and scribes, they 'began to oppose him fiercely and to besiege him with questions [apostomatizein], waiting to catch him in something he might say.' This reflects a formal rabbinic debate strategy — sustained, aggressive questioning designed to trap a teacher in a contradiction. The context is one of mounting hostility toward Jesus. Theologically, the passage illustrates that the Word of God in the flesh could not be ensnared by human questioning; His answers consistently turned the tables on His interrogators.