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Meaning of EXPLAIN

Pronunciation:  ik'spleyn

WordNet Dictionary
 
 Definition: 
  1. [v]  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 amy explain her reluctance to date again"
  2. [v]  make palin and comprehensible; "He explained the laws of physics to his students"
  3. [v]  define; "The committe explained their plan for fund-raising to the Dean"
 
 Websites: 
 
 Synonyms: excuse, explicate
 
 See Also: account for, alibi, clarify, clear up, comment, elucidate, inform, interpret, justify, naturalize, say, state, tell, vindicate

 

 

Webster's 1913 Dictionary
 
 Definition: 
  1. \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.

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