understand
verb (used with object)
to perceive the meaning of; grasp the idea of; comprehend.
had understood
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past perfectof understand.past perfect
Used to express a completed action that took place before another specific past action occurred.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
They had understood the audition call to be the kind of secret code that gay men used to organize their gatherings, but in this case there really is a play to perform.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 25, 2026
Reichl had found the language for something I had understood only emotionally: food journalism belonged in the larger conversation about labor, politics, culture and power.
From Salon ● Aug. 6, 2026
Rosenbaum said the past year had "revealed that the old system had less legitimacy and was more fragile than I had understood, than was widely understood."
From Barron's ● Jan. 16, 2026
Kehoe wasn’t sure how much Florence had understood.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 11, 2025
Inside her, grand castles of comprehension, models of the world as she had understood it, shivered.
From "The Inquisitor's Tale" by Adam Gidwitz
