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.
See Examples For:
Around 4:30 p.m. local time, park employees hustled them out of the theme park and told them it was closed, she said, but they didn’t explain why.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 14, 2026
When something frightening develops gradually, we explain away warning signs because they don’t fit the world we already know.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 13, 2026
Could financial and insurance considerations explain the delay in making a decision, and how challenging is this uncertainty for teams and drivers given the championship implications?
From BBC ● Oct. 13, 2026
But our brains aren’t computers and physics has yet to fully explain consciousness — that’s why they call it a hard problem.
From Salon ● Oct. 12, 2026
I wouldn’t know how to explain what’s been going on with Karly, and I wouldn’t want to, either.
From "Code Name Kingfisher" by Liz Kessler
"Translating 10,000 articles the traditional way would cost millions. In our process, the AI produces the draft, then a human translator checks every sentence," he explains.
From BBC ● Oct. 13, 2026
This dynamic explains why reinsurance stocks have sometimes rallied after significant loss events.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 13, 2026
This explains why breadth in the S&P’s slow grind higher of late has been so narrow.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 12, 2026
"That is the signature of the Kondo effect, and it's a property of the electrons in the impurity interacting with the electrons traveling through the bulk metal," Chan explains.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 10, 2026
“Tess telephoned this morning and said you planned to visit. I cut my work short and came home,” he explains.
From "The Brightwood Code" by Monica Hesse
The more docile American bison are sometimes seen in US circuses for human entertainment, he explained.
From Barron's ● Oct. 14, 2026
The limits “cannot be clearly explained by differences in real or perceived quality in the instruction of full-time or adjunct faculty,” wrote Woodward, the department’s third-ranking official.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 13, 2026
"They came off big injuries last season so it wasn't worth putting them on that pitch," Lam explained.
From BBC ● Oct. 13, 2026
"It starts off with no spin at all," explained MSc student Light Mkhumbuza, who carried out key experiments.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 13, 2026
“For the winter months,” Duane explained, “when the reflection pond is frozen over and covered in snow.”
From "The Very, Very Far North" by Dan Bar-el
"Those friends are gone," Tejeda told AFP, explaining that many now live in Miami, Madrid or elsewhere.
From Barron's ● Oct. 13, 2026
In 2022, Carrey revealed that he was “fairly serious” about stepping away from acting, explaining that he had become content with the life he had created outside the relentless pace of Hollywood.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 13, 2026
Scientists have understood this transition for decades, but explaining how oxygen remained sufficiently abundant afterward has been much more difficult.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 12, 2026
“My thinking has changed on this issue,” Raman told The Times in August, explaining why she no longer supports defunding the police.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 12, 2026
He’s talking, and explaining everything, but the nerves in my head are buzzing so loud, I don’t hear anything.
From "Popcorn" by Rob Harrell
Vocabulary lists containing explain
PARCC: Language of the Test (Grade7)
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Jim Burke's Academic Vocabulary List
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The SAT: Language of the Test, List 4
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