explain
to make plain or clear; render understandable or intelligible: to explain an obscure point.
to make known in detail: to explain how to do something.
to assign a meaning to; interpret: How can you explain such a silly remark?
to make clear the cause or reason of; account for: I cannot explain his strange behavior.
to give an explanation.
explain away,
to diminish or nullify the significance of by explanation: He couldn't explain away his absence from home at the time the robbery was committed.
to dispel (doubts, difficulties, etc.) by explanation: She explained away the child's fears.
Origin of explain
1Other words for explain
Opposites for explain
Other words from explain
- ex·plain·a·ble, adjective
- ex·plain·er, ex·pla·na·tor [ek-spluh-ney-ter], /ˈɛk spləˌneɪ tər/, noun
- mis·ex·plained, adjective
- non·ex·plain·a·ble, adjective
- o·ver·ex·plain, verb
- pre·ex·plain, verb
- re·ex·plain, verb (used with object)
- un·ex·plain·a·ble, adjective
- un·ex·plain·a·bly, adverb
- un·ex·plained, adjective
- un·ex·plain·ing, adjective
- well-ex·plained, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use explain in a sentence
Machine-learning models excel at spotting correlations but are hard pressed to explain why one event should follow another.
How special relativity can help AI predict the future | Will Heaven | August 28, 2020 | MIT Technology ReviewThat leaves people “fearful of it happening again,” Gunnar explains.
A bit of stress may help young people build resilience | Esther Landhuis | August 27, 2020 | Science News For Students“It’s a massive period of change for the brain and for the whole endocrine system,” explains Megan Gunnar.
Thus far, Target has been, explaining its record-setting success.
Target just had its best quarter ever thanks to pandemic bulk buying | Phil Wahba | August 19, 2020 | FortuneI am going to explain what happens with contextual advertising, SEO, messengers, email, and social networks.
Weiss, who had been in the firehouse consoling families throughout the day, said he struggled to explain the unexplainable.
Sandy Hook, Connecticut: A Small Town Devastated | Eliza Shapiro, Matthew Zeitlin | December 15, 2012 | THE DAILY BEASTThe series regulars sang original songs in her imagination, but did not actually break into any unexplainable dance routines.
“There is something about the DNA of Israeli innovation that is unexplainable,” Shainberg said.
But because the amounts differ, it was either a lab error or an unexplainable anomaly.
The silence of the place began to try my nerves, and in a sudden, unexplainable panic I started for the open street.
In the Fog | Richard Harding DavisWhy this beautiful drama should ever be absent from the boards is one of the unexplainable things.
Mark Twain, A Biography, 1835-1910, Complete | Albert Bigelow PaineThe elder told his story of inevitable failure, and strange unexplainable fatality.
The Doctor's Family | Mrs. (Margaret) OliphantShe was too proud to go back now on that promise, to rescind the contract because of an unexplainable fear.
The Elusive Pimpernel | Baroness Emmuska OrczyMany likes, unexplainable by any theory of personal appearance, etc., arise from this cause.
Nuggets of the New Thought | William Walker Atkinson,
British Dictionary definitions for explain
/ (ɪkˈspleɪn) /
(when tr, may take a clause as object) to make (something) comprehensible, esp by giving a clear and detailed account of the relevant structure, operation, surrounding circumstances, etc
(tr) to justify or attempt to justify (oneself) by giving reasons for one's actions or words
Origin of explain
1Derived forms of explain
- explainable, adjective
- explainer, noun
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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