spell out
to make clear, distinct, or explicit; clarify in detail: let me spell out the implications
to read laboriously or with difficulty, working out each word letter by letter
to discern by study; puzzle out
Words Nearby spell out
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
How to use spell out in a sentence
But to spell out what that change and modernization would involve, in racial terms?
You’re in Denial if You Think Steve Israel Is Wrong About GOP Racism | Michael Tomasky | April 14, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTBut those who use that slogan never spell out what they think accounts for the pattern of the last 13,000 years.
Jared Diamond Talks About His New Book for Young Readers | William O’Connor | April 12, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTShe tried to spell out ‘squeeze’ in the typical way, “but it was taken.”
Jill Zarin’s Fashion Savvy Reaps Reality TV’s Rewards With a Line Called Skweez Couture | Misty White Sidell | March 18, 2013 | THE DAILY BEASTOn a shelf above my computer are five letters that spell out W-R-I-T-E.
Jodi Picoult on Writing, Publishing, and What She’s Reading | Noah Charney | April 3, 2012 | THE DAILY BEASTHe still had the use of one hand, and a computer, controlled by a single lever, allowed him to spell out sentences.
It was on them that I began to spell out those signs which to the learned reveal a few faint traces of the Mighty Riddle.
Marguerite | Anatole FranceI am drinking the bitter cup of expiation; but as I drink it I painfully spell out this sentence: Expiation is not annihilation.
Honorine | Honore de BalzacPeter was made to spell out the first sentence two or three times over, for Heidi wished him to get it correct and fluent.
Heidi | Johanna SpyriShe would take it away and spell out for herself those things in the marked book that had marked the soul of the man she loved.
The Open Question | Elizabeth RobinsThen six slabs were placed in a row to spell out the sacred formula, “Om mani padme hum.”
Trans-Himalaya, Vol. 2 (of 2) | Sven Hedin
Other Idioms and Phrases with spell out
Make plain, clarify, as in We asked her to spell out her objectives. [c. 1940]
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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