Another word for explain
a-z
Verb
To make understandable
- To remove (a tumor or eye, for example) whole from an enveloping cover or sac.
- To remove the nucleus of.
- To explain; elucidate.
- To form (a word) from its component letters.
- To explain in a simple and understandable manner.
- To explain the meaning of:
- To understand the significance of; construe:
- To present or conceptualize the meaning of by means of art or criticism:
- To explain in detail; elucidate:
- To make known or set forth; present:
- To make a detailed statement:
- To make clear the meaning of; explain.
- To read or interpret (ambiguous, obscure, or illegible matter).
- To convert from a code or cipher to plaintext; decode.
- To understand or explain the meaning of (something), especially in a particular way; interpret:
- To analyze the structure of (a clause or sentence).
- To use syntactically:
Idioms:See also:To find a solution for
- (idiomatic) To come to understand; to discover or find a solution; to deduce.
- (idiomatic) To calculate.
- To undo or ravel the entangled, knitted, or woven threads of:
- To undo or separate (entangled, knitted, or woven threads).
- To clarify the elements of (something mysterious or baffling); solve:
- To find an answer to, explanation for, or way of dealing with (a problem, for example).
- To solve an equation:
- To make a firm decision about:
- To decide or express by formal vote:
- To cause (a person) to reach a decision:
- To read or interpret (ambiguous, obscure, or illegible matter).
- To convert from a code or cipher to plaintext; decode.
Idioms:To offer reasons for or a cause of
- To explain rationally:
- To explain or justify (one's behavior) with incorrect reasons or excuses, often without conscious awareness:
- To dismiss or minimize the significance of (something) by means of an explanation or excuse:
- To demonstrate or prove to be just, right, or valid:
- To free (a human) of the guilt and penalty attached to grievous sin. Used of God.
- To demonstrate sufficient legal reason for (an action taken).
See also:
Idioms:
To conceal or make light of a fault or offense
explain away
© Roget’s II: The New Thesaurus Copyright © 2010 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio. Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Another word for explain
Verb
-
- To find an answer to, explanation for, or way of dealing with (a problem, for example).
- To solve an equation:
- Used other than as an idiom: see get,"Ž to.
- To affect adversely; to upset or annoy.
- To track down and intimidate.
- To give emphasis to; stress:
- To cause to appear important or deserving of attention:
- To give prominence of sound to (a syllable or word) in pronouncing or in accordance with a metrical pattern.
- A gathering at which people relate their experiences or opinions about a specified topic or concern.
- (idiomatic) To come to understand; to discover or find a solution; to deduce.
- (idiomatic) To calculate.
- (idiomatic) To understand, discover the truth about, or solve.
- Composed of distinct, meaningful syllables or words:
- Expressing oneself easily in clear and effective language:
- Characterized by the use of clear, expressive language:
- To form (a word) from its component letters.
- To explain in a simple and understandable manner.
- To straighten out or disentangle (a jumble or tangle); resolve.
- To restore (a scrambled message) to intelligible form.
- To make a firm decision about:
- To decide or express by formal vote:
- To cause (a person) to reach a decision:
- To furnish (a literary work) with critical commentary or explanatory notes; gloss.
- To gloss a text.
- To make less mysterious; clarify:
- To reduce in complexity or extent.
- To reduce to fundamental parts.
- To make easier to understand.
- To phrase again, especially to state in a new, clearer, or different way.
- To state again or in a new form.
- to explain or state something clearly and understandably.
- to perform a theatrical production.
- To open and spread out (something folded); extend.
- To remove the coverings from; disclose to view:
- To reveal gradually by written or spoken explanation; make known:
- To undo or ravel the entangled, knitted, or woven threads of:
- To undo or separate (entangled, knitted, or woven threads).
- To clarify the elements of (something mysterious or baffling); solve:
- To free from a tangle; disentangle.
- To straighten out (something puzzling or complicated); clarify or resolve.
- To explain rationally:
- To explain or justify (one's behavior) with incorrect reasons or excuses, often without conscious awareness:
- To dismiss or minimize the significance of (something) by means of an explanation or excuse:
- To demonstrate or prove to be just, right, or valid:
- To free (a human) of the guilt and penalty attached to grievous sin. Used of God.
- To demonstrate sufficient legal reason for (an action taken).
- To extricate from entanglement or involvement; free.
- To clear up or resolve (a plot, for example); unravel.
- To become free of entanglement.
- To state the precise meaning of (a word or sense of a word, for example).
- To describe the nature or basic qualities of; explain:
- To make clear the outline or form of; delineate:
- To understand or explain the meaning of (something), especially in a particular way; interpret:
- To analyze the structure of (a clause or sentence).
- To use syntactically:
- To read or interpret (ambiguous, obscure, or illegible matter).
- To convert from a code or cipher to plaintext; decode.
- To submit or present, as for consideration, approval, or payment:
- To give or make available; provide:
- To give in return or by obligation:
- A restatement of a text or passage in another form or other words, often to clarify meaning.
- The restatement of texts in other words as a studying or teaching device.
- The adaptation or alteration of a text or quotation to serve a different purpose from that of the original.
- To render in another language:
- To express in different, often simpler words:
- To change from one form, function, or state to another; convert or transform:
- To examine and grasp the meaning of (written or printed characters, words, or sentences).
- To utter or render aloud (written or printed material):
- To have the ability to examine and grasp the meaning of (written or printed material in a given language or notation):
- To reduce to a pure state; purify.
- To remove by purifying.
- To free from coarse, unsuitable, or immoral characteristics:
- To communicate by speech or writing; express with words:
- To give a detailed account of; narrate:
- To notify (someone) of something; inform:
- To show clearly and deliberately; manifest:
- To show to be true by reasoning or adducing evidence; prove:
- To present by experiments, examples, or practical application; explain and illustrate:
- To expose to view, as by removing a cover; uncover.
- To make known (something heretofore kept secret).
- To make known (something concealed or unknown):
- To cause to be seen; show:
- To make known by supernatural or divine means:
- Clearly apparent to the sight or understanding; obvious.
- To show or demonstrate plainly; reveal:
- To record in a ship's manifest.
- To impart knowledge or skill to:
- To provide knowledge of; instruct in:
- To condition to a certain action or frame of mind:
- To explain in detail; elucidate:
- To make known or set forth; present:
- To make a detailed statement:
- To give an account of in speech or writing:
- To convey an idea or impression of; characterize:
- To represent pictorially; depict:
- To provide or brighten with light.
- To decorate or hang with lights.
- To make understandable; clarify:
- To make clear or easier to understand; elucidate:
- To clear of confusion or uncertainty:
- To make clear by removing impurities or solid matter, as by heating gently or filtering:
- To clarify or explain, as by the use of examples or comparisons:
- To serve as an example or clarification of:
- To provide (a text) with explanatory or decorative images:
- To make clear or plain, especially by explanation; clarify.
- To explain or clarify something:
- To make clear the meaning of; explain.
- To explain the meaning of:
- To understand the significance of; construe:
- To present or conceptualize the meaning of by means of art or criticism:
Synonym Study
- Construe suggests a careful interpretation of something especially where meaning is ambiguous her silence was construed as agreement
- To interpret is to bring out meanings not immediately apparent, as by translation, searching insight, or special knowledge how do you interpret his behavior?
- Elucidate implies a shedding light upon by clear and specific explanation, illustration, etc. to elucidate the country's foreign policy
- Explicate implies a scholarly analysis or exposition that is developed in detail the explication of a Biblical passage
- Expound implies a systematic and thorough explanation, often by a person having expert knowledge to expound a theory
- Explain implies making clear or intelligible something that is not known or understood to explain how a machine operates
© WEBSTER’S NEW WORLD® ROGET’S A-Z THESAURUS by Charlton Laird and the editors of Webster’s New World dictionaries. Copyright © 1999 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
