spell out

British  

verb

1. to make clear, distinct, or explicit; clarify in detail

   let me spell out the implications

2. to read laboriously or with difficulty, working out each word letter by letter

3. to discern by study; puzzle out

---

spell out Idioms  

1. Make plain, clarify, as in We asked her to spell out her objectives . [c. 1940]

2. Read slowly and laboriously, as in He was only six but he managed to spell out the instructions . [Early 1800s]

3. Puzzle out, manage to understand with some effort, as in It took years before anyone could spell out the inscriptions on the Rosetta Stone . [Late 1600s] All three usages transfer spell in the sense of “proceed letter by letter.”

---

Example Sentences

The general tone of the film is anticlimactic, but Thomas and Duke are on trajectories that spell out “tragedy” in furnace smoke across a northern English sky.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 19, 2026

She didn’t spell out what this all meant, but it seemed to imply that Erika was raised to be a Project Looking Glass agent assigned to handle Charlie.

From Slate • Feb. 27, 2026

The "border defence strategy" outlined in the bill does not spell out how exactly ships will be prevented from crossing Italy's waters or by whom.

From Barron's • Feb. 12, 2026

Sterner tests will await world number 13 Draper, who is ranked 300 places above Durasovic, but he will be relieved to have rattled through a convincing win after a long spell out.

From BBC • Feb. 5, 2026

“You mean the corrections spell out a word by chance?”

From "Book Scavenger" by Jennifer Chambliss Bertman

Related Words

• define
• describe
• expound
• illustrate
• justify
• point out