Definitions for explain
ɪkˈspleɪnex·plain

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

1. explain, explicate(verb)

   make plain and comprehensible

   "He explained the laws of physics to his students"

2. explain(verb)

   define

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

3. excuse, explain(verb)

   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. explain(Verb)

   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.

2. explain(Verb)

   To give a valid excuse for some past behavior.

3. explain(Verb)

   To make flat, smooth out.

4. explain(Verb)

   To unfold or make visible.

Origin: 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(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Explain(adj)

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

2. Explain(adj)

   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. Explain(verb)

   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.]

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

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. Katherine Hepburn:

   Never complain. Never explain.

2. Safiullah Jabarkhail:

   I can't explain how happy I am.

3. Benjamin Disraeli:

   Never complain and never explain.

4. Lindsay Graham:

   I think he needs to explain himself.

5. Bill Peterson:

   It's a very difficult game to explain.

Images & Illustrations of explain

Popularity rank by frequency of use