'Explain' definitions:
Definition of 'explain'
(from WordNet)
verb
Make plain and comprehensible; "He explained the laws of physics to his students" [syn: explain, explicate]
verb
Define; "The committee explained their plan for fund-raising to the Dean"
verb
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, explain]
Definition of 'Explain'
From: GCIDE
- Explain \Ex*plain"\ ([e^]ks*pl[=a]n"), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Explained([e^]ks*pl[=a]nd"); 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.] [1913 Webster]
- The horse-chestnut is . . . ready to explain its leaf. --Evelyn. [1913 Webster]
- 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. [1913 Webster]
- Commentators to explain the difficult passages to you. --Gay. [1913 Webster]
- To explain away, to get rid of by explanation. "Those explain the meaning quite away." --Pope.
- Syn: To expound; interpret; elucidate; clear up. [1913 Webster]
Definition of 'Explain'
From: GCIDE
- Explain \Ex*plain"\, v. i. To give an explanation. [1913 Webster]
Synonyms of 'explain'
From: Moby Thesaurus
- absolve,
- account,
- account for,
- acquit,
- aid,
- allegorize,
- analyze,
- answer,
- bottom,
- break down,
- clarify,
- clear,
- clear the way,
- clear up,
- condone,
- construe,
- crack,
- cry sour grapes,
- debug,
- decipher,
- decode,
- define,
- delineate,
- demonstrate,
- demythologize,
- describe,
- destigmatize,
- detail,
- disclose,
- discourse,
- disentangle,
- divine,
- do,
- do justice to,
- dope,
- dope out,
- ease,
- elucidate,
- enlighten,
- euhemerize,
- exculpate,
- excuse,
- exemplify,
- exonerate,
- expedite,
- explain away,
- explicate,
- exposit,
- expound,
- extenuate,
- facilitate,
- fathom,
- figure out,
- find out,
- find the answer,
- find the solution,
- get,
- get across,
- get over,
- get right,
- give reason for,
- give the meaning,
- grease,
- grease the ways,
- grease the wheels,
- guess,
- guess right,
- harangue,
- hasten,
- have it,
- help along,
- hit it,
- hold forth,
- illuminate,
- illustrate,
- interpret,
- justify,
- lecture,
- legitimate,
- legitimatize,
- loose,
- lubricate,
- make clear,
- make it clear,
- make out,
- make plain,
- make way for,
- moralize,
- oil,
- open the lock,
- open the way,
- open up,
- palliate,
- pave the way,
- plumb,
- point a moral,
- popularize,
- preach,
- prepare the way,
- psych,
- psych out,
- purge,
- put across,
- put over,
- puzzle out,
- quicken,
- rationalize,
- ravel,
- ravel out,
- read a lesson,
- rehabilitate,
- reinstate,
- remove friction,
- resolve,
- restore,
- riddle,
- run interference for,
- sermonize,
- shed light upon,
- show,
- show how,
- show the way,
- simplify,
- smooth,
- smooth the way,
- soap the ways,
- solve,
- sort out,
- speed,
- spell out,
- throw light upon,
- unbar,
- unblock,
- unclog,
- undo,
- unfold,
- unjam,
- unlock,
- unravel,
- unriddle,
- unscramble,
- untangle,
- untwist,
- unweave,
- vindicate,
- vulgarize,
- warrant,
- work,
- work out