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interpret

[in-tur-prit] / ɪnˈtɜr prɪt /


Usage

What are other ways to say interpret? 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. 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 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. 

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:

He’s malleable and clueless about a lot of things, including whether it’s appropriate to interpret a female colleague’s nervous vomiting as an indicator that she’s pregnant.

From Salon ● Oct. 22, 2026

By identifying corresponding developmental stages, the scientists could make meaningful comparisons and interpret their experimental findings more reliably.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 22, 2026

The incident highlights the difficulties companies can still face when using AI to speed up or simplify work processes, especially when it is used to interpret words in a specific context.

From BBC ● Oct. 21, 2026

Once they started shooting, Fielder said he and Oppenheim were compelled by details they couldn’t interpret.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 16, 2026

He believes that dreams predict the future, if we know how to interpret them.

From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton

To investigate how the public interprets hurricane forecasts, the research team surveyed residents of Florida and Georgia.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 20, 2026

What those commitments are - and how Iran interprets them - will help determine whether this deal sticks.

From BBC ● Jun. 15, 2026

Arkeus’s AI-powered platform gathers and interprets optical data from proprietary sensors, including light not visible to the human eye.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 15, 2026

Saylor was keen to point out “systemically important banks like Morgan Stanley and Citi, all with intent to integrate bitcoin into their operations,” which he interprets as an “embrace of bitcoin as a creditworthy instrument.”

From MarketWatch ● May 6, 2026

But they also light up when the brain interprets something as pleasurable, even if the behavior doesn’t appear to have the survival value of, say, eating or procreating.

From "A Deadly Wandering: A Mystery, a Landmark Investigation, and the Astonishing Science of Attention in the Digital Age" by Matt Richtel

Ultimately, the client quit over what I interpreted to be misunderstandings on both sides.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 17, 2026

Success and failure help to refine how the data is interpreted.

From BBC ● Oct. 8, 2026

"At the same time, the warning could be interpreted as stopping short of completely foreclosing inter-Korean dialogue: essentially telling Seoul not to interfere unless it has something substantial to offer."

From Barron's ● Oct. 8, 2026

“The investigation remains active and ongoing, and this preliminary assessment should not be interpreted as a final determination of the circumstances surrounding his death,” the department said.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 7, 2026

Both Rosy’s and Maurice’s papers covered roughly the same ground and in each case interpreted their results in terms of the base pairs.

From "Double Helix" by James D. Watson

However, interpreting these discoveries has been complicated by extensive damage and looting.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 18, 2026

Pène du Bois became deeply attached to Hopper and wrote some selfless essays interpreting and defending Hopper’s art.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 16, 2026

Alan Mandell, an award-winning actor, arts patron and arts administrator, was best known for co-founding the San Quentin Drama Workshop and interpreting the plays of Samuel Beckett.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 15, 2026

They are also particularly interesting to geneticists because some have evolved unusual ways of interpreting DNA instructions.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 8, 2026

The noise his crew was interpreting as that of enemy torpedoes, Herrick suggested, could actually be coming from the American ship’s own propeller.

From "Most Dangerous: Daniel Ellsberg and the Secret History of the Vietnam War" by Steve Sheinkin


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