Definitions for explain
ɪkˈspleɪnex·plain

Princeton's WordNet(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. explain, explicateverb

   make plain and comprehensible

   "He explained the laws of physics to his students"

2. explainverb

   define

   "The committee explained their plan for fund-raising to the Dean"

3. excuse, explainverb

   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 may explain her reluctance to date again"

Wiktionary(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. explainverb

   To give a sufficiently detailed report about (a) the reason for something, about why something happened, about a causal chain of events; about (b) how something works, about how elements in a system interact; about (c) how to do something, about the steps which need to be accomplished in order to accomplish a certain goal.

   Etymology: explanen, from explaner, from explanō, from ex- + planō, from planus; see plain and plane. Compare esplanade, splanade. Displaced native arecchen, irecchen (from areccan, gereccan).

2. explainverb

   To give a valid excuse for some past behavior.

   Etymology: explanen, from explaner, from explanō, from ex- + planō, from planus; see plain and plane. Compare esplanade, splanade. Displaced native arecchen, irecchen (from areccan, gereccan).

3. explainverb

   To make flat, smooth out.

   Etymology: explanen, from explaner, from explanō, from ex- + planō, from planus; see plain and plane. Compare esplanade, splanade. Displaced native arecchen, irecchen (from areccan, gereccan).

4. explainverb

   To unfold or make visible.

   Etymology: explanen, from explaner, from explanō, from ex- + planō, from planus; see plain and plane. Compare esplanade, splanade. Displaced native arecchen, irecchen (from areccan, gereccan).

Webster Dictionary(3.50 / 2 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Explainadjective

   to flatten; to spread out; to unfold; to expand

2. Explainadjective

   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

3. Explainverb

   to give an explanation

Chambers 20th Century Dictionary(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Explain

   eks-plān′, v.t. to make plain or intelligible: to unfold and illustrate the meaning of: to expound: to account for.—adj. Explain′able, that may be explained or cleared up.—ns. Explain′er, one who explains; Explanā′tion, act of explaining or clearing from obscurity: that which explains or clears up: the meaning or sense given to anything: a mutual clearing up of matters.—adv. Explan′atorily.—adj. Explan′atory, serving to explain or clear up: containing explanations.—Explain away, to modify the force of by explanation, generally in a bad sense. [O. Fr. explaner—L. explanāre—ex, out, planāre—planus, plain.]

Editors Contribution(1.00 / 1 vote)Rate this definition:

1. explain

   To use words to provide data, detail, an answer, response, proof or information.

   The government are asked to explain the reason for their efficient and effective increase in revenue.

   Submitted by MaryC on February 14, 2020  

Matched Categories

1. • Inform
   • Justify
   • State

British National Corpus

1. Spoken Corpus Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'explain' in Spoken Corpus Frequency: #1356

2. Written Corpus Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'explain' in Written Corpus Frequency: #1107

3. Verbs Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'explain' in Verbs Frequency: #119

How to pronounce explain?

1. Alex

   US English

   Daniel

   British

   Karen

   Australian

   Veena

   Indian

How to say explain in sign language?

Numerology

1. Chaldean Numerology

   The numerical value of explain in Chaldean Numerology is: 1

2. Pythagorean Numerology

   The numerical value of explain in Pythagorean Numerology is: 9

Examples of explain in a Sentence

1. Mohammad Javad Azari Jahromi:

   Some of our top clerics have issued fatwas that say Bitcoin is money without a reserve, that it is rejected by Islamic and cybercurrencies are haram, when we explain to them this is not a currency but an asset, they change their mind.

2. Pauline McPherson:

   What I am looking for now is what Syngenta has to say. Now we need the board and the management to explain their Plan B, the ball is firmly in their camp with regards to creating the value they have just refused.

3. Scott Sheppard:

   This object may allow us to be able to find a much bigger object that is out in our solar system, and if there is a really big object out in the very far outer part of our solar system, it would be very hard to explain that with what we know about solar system formation.

4. Sloane Udell:

   We have struggled, as adults, to comprehend these unspeakably horrific deeds and to explain to our children, Evy's cherished grandchildren, that their beautiful, kind, and giving Grand-mom was no longer able to walk among us, there is no why. It has been an unimaginable task to bring reason to something so senseless.

5. Jon Rahm:

   When I made the decision to come straight from Augusta it wouldn't be to just show up and walk around, I wanted to win this tournament, i've been blessed to be national champion from 16 to all ages in Spain. To round my amateur and pro career together in this way and win the last one I had to win and join that prestigious list of Spanish winners, it's hard to explain how good it feels and how satisfying it is.

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