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5 dictionary results for: explain

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

ex·plain

[ik-spleyn] Pronunciation Key

–verb (used with object)

1.	to make plain or clear; render understandable or intelligible: to explain an obscure point.

2.	to make known in detail: to explain how to do something.

3.	to assign a meaning to; interpret: How can you explain such a silly remark?

4.	to make clear the cause or reason of; account for: I cannot explain his strange behavior.

–verb (used without object)

5.	to give an explanation.

—Verb phrase

explain away,

a.	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.

b.	to dispel (doubts, difficulties, etc.) by explanation: She explained away the child's fears.

[Origin: 1375–1425; late ME explanen < L explānāre to smooth out, make intelligible, spread out on flat surface. See ex-¹, plane¹

]

—Related forms

ex·plain·a·ble, adjective

ex·plain·er, ex·pla·na·tor

[ek-spluh-ney-ter] Pronunciation Key, noun

—Synonyms 1. explicate. Explain, elucidate, expound, interpret imply making the meaning of something clear or understandable. To explain is to make plain, clear, or intelligible something that is not known or understood: to explain a theory or a problem. To elucidate is to throw light on what before was dark and obscure, usually by illustration and commentary and sometimes by elaborate explanation: They asked him to elucidate his statement. To expound is to give a methodical, detailed, scholarly explanation of something, usually Scriptures, doctrines, or philosophy: to expound the doctrine of free will. To interpret is to give the meaning of something by paraphrase, by translation, or by an explanation based on personal opinion: to interpret a poem or a symbol. 4. justify.

—Antonyms 1. confuse.

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

ex·plain   (ĭk-splān') Pronunciation Key
v.   ex·plained, ex·plain·ing, ex·plains

v.   tr.

To make plain or comprehensible.
To define; expound: We explained our plan to the committee.
1. To offer reasons for or a cause of; justify: explain an error.
2. To offer reasons for the actions, beliefs, or remarks of (oneself).

v. intr.
To make something plain or comprehensible: Let me explain.

Phrasal Verb(s):
explain away

To dismiss or get rid of by or as if by explaining.
To minimize by explanation.

[Middle English explanen, from Latin explānāre : ex-, intensive pref.; see ex- + plānus, clear; see pelə-² in Indo-European roots.]

ex·plain'a·ble adj.

Synonyms: These verbs mean to make understandable the nature or meaning of something. Explain is the most widely applicable: The professor explained the obscure symbols.
To elucidate is to throw light on something complex: "Man's whole life and environment have been laid open and elucidated" (Thomas Carlyle).
Expound and explicate imply detailed and usually learned and lengthy exploration or analysis: "We must never forget that it is a constitution we are expounding" (John Marshall). "Ordinary language philosophers tried to explicate the standards of usage" (Jerrold J. Katz).
To interpret is to reveal the underlying meaning of something by the application of special knowledge or insight: "If a poet interprets a poem of his own he limits its suggestibility" (William Butler Yeats).
Construe involves putting a particular construction or interpretation on something: "I take the official oath today . . . with no purpose to construe the Constitution or laws by any hypercritical rules" (Abraham Lincoln).

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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

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WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This

explain
verb
1.	make plain and comprehensible; "He explained the laws of physics to his students"
2.	define; "The committee explained their plan for fund-raising to the Dean"
3.	serve as a reason or cause or justification of; "Your need to sleep late does not excuse your late arrival at work"; "Her recent divorce may explain her reluctance to date again" [syn: excuse]

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Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Explain

Ex*plain"\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Explained; p. pr. & vb. n. Explaining.] [L. explandare to flatten, spread out, explain; ex out+plandare to make level or plain, planus plain: cf. OF. esplaner, explaner. See Plain,a., and cf. Esplanade.]

1. To flatten; to spread out; to unfold; to expand. [Obs.]

The horse-chestnut is . . . ready to explain its leaf. --Evelyn.

2. To make plain, manifest, or intelligible; to clear of obscurity; to expound; to unfold and illustrate the meaning of; as, to explain a chapter of the Bible.

Commentators to explain the difficult passages to you. --Gay.

To explain away, to get rid of by explanation. "Those explain the meaning quite away." --Pope.

Syn: To expound; interpret; elucidate; clear up.

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Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Explain

Ex*plain"\, v. i. To give an explanation.

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