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Definitions

understand

[uhn-der-stand] / ˌʌn dərˈstænd /




Usage

What are other ways to say understand? To understand is to be fully aware not only of the meaning of something but also of its implications: I could comprehend all he said, but did not understand that he was joking. To know is to be aware of something as a fact or truth: He knows the basic facts of the subject. I know that he agrees with me. To comprehend is to know something thoroughly and to perceive its relationships to certain other ideas, facts, etc. 

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:

Antibiotics frequently fail to control this condition, and scientists have struggled to understand why.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 23, 2026

To understand why the judge ruled that way, it’s important to go back a decade and examine how the agreement was constructed.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 23, 2026

I recommend spending some time with the list to understand why these boards stood out.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 23, 2026

"Some of my family don't really understand social media. So they're like: What does this mean? What does that mean? But they're all really happy for me and really proud of me."

From BBC ● Oct. 23, 2026

It’s this moment that makes me realize that she’ll understand what Mom never will, and maybe Mom was right, forcing me to come here.

From "Red Flags and Butterflies" by Sheryl Azzam

While Jackdaw has now been approved, the BBC understands that the Rosebank decision is still with the regulator and has not yet been passed to the energy secretary.

From BBC ● Oct. 21, 2026

This is all incredibly normal, accepted behaviour which anyone who attends a concert regularly already understands.

From Salon ● Oct. 21, 2026

“Who understands the battlefield data and can make decisions faster, Russia or Ukraine—this side will have the biggest benefits,” says Danylo Tsvok, A1’s CEO.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 20, 2026

"Peter Rice understands talent relations, and in a competitive market, creative talent have choices of where they want to work," Sarandos said on the call Tuesday.

From Barron's ● Oct. 20, 2026

"Good," says Helmuth, but he understands Karl's fear.

From "The Boy Who Dared" by Susan Campbell Bartoletti

Tina Treviño, 61, said she hopes “la raza” — a term used in the Mexican American community that is widely understood as “the people” — will deliver political change to Texas.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 23, 2026

El Mayer said he "fully understood" the allegations but denied dismissing Collins' feelings.

From BBC ● Oct. 22, 2026

It is understood that the news of the closure came via email and those without email addresses were left unaware.

From BBC ● Oct. 22, 2026

But he surely understood that this was an incautiously brief period of measurement, for the river’s annual flow was wildly variable, ranging from about 9.1 million to 25 million acre-feet during the 20-year sampling.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 22, 2026

No one did get Twitch’s meaning exactly, but they all understood that there was now a larger group of friends, which left everyone feeling a buzz of excitement for the possibilities that might follow.

From "The Very, Very Far North" by Dan Bar-el

Rather than educate users how to use their privacy settings, the judge wrote, Zuckerberg chose to “capitalize on that lack of understanding in order to manipulate users into sharing more of their personal information publicly.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 23, 2026

There was nothing like that forward-facing sense of understanding or empathy when she first encountered Ramaswamy during his presidential run.

From Slate ● Oct. 23, 2026

And that, according to Mike Madrid, a leading Republican consultant and expert on Hispanic voters, is key to understanding the largest ethnic demographic voting group in the country.

From BBC ● Oct. 23, 2026

"A dialogue may be pursued with the understanding of Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping," said Yang Moo-jin, former president of the University of North Korean Studies.

From Barron's ● Oct. 23, 2026

I lived for these moments, this tight connection with someone, the growing sense of understanding another person—and being understood.

From "Bye Forever, I Guess" by Jodi Meadows


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