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/ɪksplˈeɪn/ Listen

verb

Explain v. t. (past & past part. explained; pres. part. explaining)

To flatten; to spread out; to unfold; to expand. (Obs.) "The horse-chestnut is... ready to explain its leaf."

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. "Commentators to explain the difficult passages to you."

To explain away, to get rid of by explanation. "Those explain the meaning quite away."

Synonyms: To expound; interpret; elucidate; clear up.

Explain v. i. To give an explanation.

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Etymology of 'Explain'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Explain" Quotes from Famous Books

... HE. I tried to explain that I was not your mother, but you seemed to know better. (He throws the cigarette away.) You insisted. I ...

— The Noble Lord - A Comedy in One Act • Percival Wilde

... moccasins and coronals of green feathers, and here and there in the throng might be seen one who wore the wings of some bird, between which and the skin, forming the robe, there seemed to be some sort of affinity, very suggestive, yet difficult to explain. Though but the miniature of men, these elfin folks were of superhuman activity and strength; and in the aspect of each was something that strangely reminded one of the beast or bird to whom he owed his robe or wings. This latter peculiarity was especially noticeable in the gait, ...

— The Red Moccasins - A Story • Morrison Heady

... Vatican Council. A layman, having expressed his disquietude at the unruly behavior of the prelates, the Pontiff replied that it had ever been thus at ecclesiastical councils. "At the outset," he went on to explain, "the members behave as men, wrangle and quarrel, and nothing that they say or do is worth much. That is the first act. The second is ushered in by the devil, who intensifies the disorder and muddles things bewilderingly. But happily there is always a third act in ...

— The Inside Story Of The Peace Conference • Emile Joseph Dillon

... of my departure my mother continued to read the Bible with us and explain it. She had become deeply impressed with the millenarian fervour which laid hold of so many some twenty-five or thirty years ago. The Apocalypse was perhaps her favourite book in the Bible, and she was imbued with ...

— The Fair Haven • Samuel Butler

... sick, darling, but very much troubled about something. Come with me and I will explain it to you." Then Papa led them into the dining-room; and, with Bertha on his knee and the others close to him, he told them that he had lost a great deal of money (almost all he had), and they would have to sell the place, and ...

— Nine Little Goslings • Susan Coolidge

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