explain
Usage
What are other ways to say explain?
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.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
For centuries, Ms. Riskin explains, animals were seen as meat, acted upon by God and lacking their own will.
“It’s over one way or another after that,” a White House source explained.
From Salon
Their findings, published in Cell, explain how this approach improved survival in patients with glioblastoma, the most aggressive and common form of primary brain cancer, during a recent clinical trial.
From Science Daily
The kind of truth that shifts the room without explaining the entire plot.
From Los Angeles Times
More rain and more dryness are “two sides of the same thermodynamic coin,” he explained.
From Los Angeles Times
From Roget's 21st Century Thesaurus, Third Edition Copyright © 2013 by the Philip Lief Group.
