Definitions for explain
ɪkˈspleɪnex·plain

Princeton's WordNetRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

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"

WiktionaryRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

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.

2. explainverb

   To give a valid excuse for some past behavior.

3. explainverb

   To make flat, smooth out.

4. explainverb

   To unfold or make visible.

5. 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).

Samuel Johnson's DictionaryRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. To EXPLAINverb

   To expound; to illustrate; to clear by notes or commentaries.

   Etymology: explano, Latin.

   Such is the original design, however we may explain it away. John Ayliffe, Parergon.

   You will have variety of commentators to explain the difficult passages to you. John Gay.

   Some explain’d the meaning quite away. Alexander Pope.

ChatGPTRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. explain

   To explain means to make something clear, understandable, or comprehensible by providing information, details, or reasoning. It involves breaking down a concept, idea, process, or situation into simpler terms or steps in order to convey meaning or clarify any confusion. The purpose of explaining is to help others gain knowledge, insight, or a deeper understanding of a particular topic or issue.

Webster DictionaryRate this definition:3.5 / 2 votes

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 DictionaryRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

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 ContributionRate this definition:1.0 / 1 vote

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

Usage in printed sourcesFrom: 

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How to pronounce explain?

1. Alex

   US English

   David

   US English

   Mark

   US English

   Daniel

   British

   Libby

   British

   Mia

   British

   Karen

   Australian

   Hayley

   Australian

   Natasha

   Australian

   Veena

   Indian

   Priya

   Indian

   Neerja

   Indian

   Zira

   US English

   Oliver

   British

   Wendy

   British

   Fred

   US English

   Tessa

   South African

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. Tara Carson:

   I turned to my daughter and I was like 'Listen, this is how I'm raising you not to be as an adult. Like, you will never be like this when you get older,' i felt helpless as a mom that, you know, I couldn't do anything to help her, because I can't explain why there's crazy people in this world that behave like that.

2. Ethan Ketner:

   Right as we passed all four, the driver turned and started advancing toward us, i can't explain how or why he thought it was a good idea, but that's what he decided to do. There were other vehicles farther down on Verner( Highway) and if they tried to claim they did it( to) get past us, they could have dispatched another officer( down the road).

3. Jennifer Bergner:

   It was an exciting time within astronomy when ‘Oumuamua was first discovered, and it just became more and more intriguing since the more we learned about it, the harder it became to explain its behavior, as an astrochemist, my own scientific interest in ‘Oumuamua developed as models started emerging to explain its acceleration, which implied pretty unusual chemical properties of the object.

4. Simon Beale:

   If you cannot explain the causes of the Tudors' rise, or simplify the concept of photosynthesis, you don't understand it yet.

5. Karey Mansicalco:

   It is financially devastating as well as emotionally devastating. I was in tears when I got the news and... I did not have the words to explain how I felt. And now I just feel angry.

Popularity rank by frequency of use

References

1. ^ Princeton's WordNet
   http://wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn?s=explain
2. ^ Wiktionary
   https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Explain
3. ^ Samuel Johnson's Dictionary
   https://johnsonsdictionaryonline.com/views/search.php?term=explain
4. ^ ChatGPT
   https://chat.openai.com
5. ^ Webster Dictionary
   https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/explain
6. ^ Chambers 20th Century Dictionary
   https://www.gutenberg.org/files/37683/37683-h/37683-h.htm#:~:text=explain
7. ^ Usage in printed sources
   https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=explain