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explain

/ɪkˈspleɪn/verb2 syllables

Explain means: make plain and comprehensible.

Synonyms for explain17

verb, as in make plain and comprehensible

explicate

verb, as in serve as a reason or cause or justification of

also used for explain

expound, elaborate, recce, elucidate, bring home, account for, absolve, clarify, describe, direct, disclose, illustrate, inform, instruct, justify

Includes material from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.

What does explain mean?3

verb

1

make plain and comprehensible“He explained the laws of physics to his students”

2

serve as a reason or cause or justification of“Your need to sleep late does not excuse your late arrival at work”

3

define“The committee explained their plan for fund-raising to the Dean”

Definitions from the Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

What rhymes with explain?60

Show 40 near rhymes

All 60 rhymes for explain, grouped by syllable

Explain in a sentence

  • I'd explain it to you, but your brain would explode.darinmex
  • Come on, you have to explain it again to him.unknown
  • Pardon me, would you explain to me the importance of this phrase?awynands
  • If you explain everything in medical jargon, it's impossible that everyone understands immediately.Dejo
  • If not, how do you explain the acceleration?al_ex_an_der
  • If you can't explain it easily, you don't yet understand it.Spamster
  • I wanted to explain what had happened, but no one would listen.CK
  • That's obvious, you don't need to explain it.etala

Sentences from Tatoeba, CC BY 2.0 FR, credited to their authors.

Forms of explain

as a verb

past tense
explained
present participle
explaining
third-person singular
explains
past participle
explained