know
1to perceive or understand as fact or truth; to apprehend clearly and with certainty: I know the situation fully.
to have established or fixed in the mind or memory: to know a poem by heart; Do you know the way to the park from here?
to be cognizant or aware of: I know it.
be acquainted with (a thing, place, person, etc.), as by sight, experience, or report: to know the mayor.
to understand from experience or attainment (usually followed by how before an infinitive): to know how to make gingerbread.
to be able to distinguish, as one from another: to know right from wrong.
Archaic. to have sexual intercourse with.
to have knowledge or clear and certain perception, as of fact or truth.
to be cognizant or aware, as of some fact, circumstance, or occurrence; have information, as about something.
the fact or state of knowing; knowledge.
Idioms about know
in the know, possessing inside, secret, or special information.
know the ropes, Informal. to understand or be familiar with the particulars of a subject or business: He knew the ropes better than anyone else in politics.
Origin of know
1Other words from know
- knower, noun
Other definitions for know (2 of 2)
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use know in a sentence
Skiers in the know have relied on Hestra gloves for decades.
Shenandoah Mountain Guides offers guided trips if you want to go with pros in the know.
The Ultimate Shenandoah National Park Travel Guide | Graham Averill | October 7, 2020 | Outside OnlineWe found that by using known interventions more widely, things like adopting healthy behaviors, expanding access to primary care, and improved adherence to medication, the global disease burden could be reduced by 40% over the next two decades.
The duopoly has access to millions of user-submitted videos, allowing them to recommend relevant videos on a user-by-user basis, a practice known as discovery.
You can see how the illusion of explanatory depth could be helpful in some scenarios — you don’t need to know everything for yourself, as long as you know someone who knows someone who knows something.
In Intelligence the knower, the known, and science are one and the same thing; and with everything else within it.
Plotinos: Complete Works, v. 3 | Plotinos (Plotinus)Moreover the thing known by perception is by this hypothesis in relation to a knower, while the physical cause is not.
Essays in Experimental Logic | John DeweyCaptain Dantoine, a passionate admirer and knower of music; plays the violin and the clavier a little.
The Life of Ludwig van Beethoven, Volume I (of 3) | Alexander Wheelock ThayerThere is one who is the knower, the subject, the ego, the perceiver.
The Inner Consciousness | Swami PrakashanandaThe one is the builder, the other is the material; the one the knower and the other the known.
The Mystery of Space | Robert T. Browne
British Dictionary definitions for know
/ (nəʊ) /
(also intr; may take a clause as object) to be or feel certain of the truth or accuracy of (a fact, etc)
to be acquainted or familiar with: she's known him five years
to have a familiarity or grasp of, as through study or experience: he knows French
(also intr; may take a clause as object) to understand, be aware of, or perceive (facts, etc): he knows the answer now
(foll by how) to be sure or aware of (how to be or do something)
to experience, esp deeply: to know poverty
to be intelligent, informed, or sensible enough (to do something): she knew not to go home yet
(may take a clause as object) to be able to distinguish or discriminate
archaic to have sexual intercourse with
I know what I have an idea
know what's what to know how one thing or things in general work
you know informal a parenthetical filler phrase used to make a pause in speaking or add slight emphasis to a statement
you never know things are uncertain
in the know informal aware or informed
Origin of know
1Derived forms of know
- knowable, adjective
- knower, 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
Other Idioms and Phrases with know
In addition to the idioms beginning with know
- know all the answers
- know a thing or two
- know beans
- know better
- know by heart
- know by sight
- know enough to come in out of the rain
- know from Adam
- know if one is coming or going
- know it all
- know like a book
- know one's own mind
- know one's place
- know one's stuff
- know one's way around
- know only too well
- know the ropes
- know the score
- know where one stands
- know which side of one's bread is buttered
also see:
- before you know it
- (know) by heart
- come in out of the rain, know enough to
- coming or going, know if one's
- for all (I know)
- god knows
- (know) inside out
- in the know
- it takes one to know one
- left hand doesn't know what right hand is doing
- not know beans
- not know from Adam
- not know where to turn
- not know which way to jump
- thing or two, know
- what do you know
- what have you (who knows what)
- which is which, know
- you know
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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