Explain /(ĕks*plān")/

Ex·plain

Explain

v. t.

imp. & p. p. Explained; p. pr. & vb. n. Explaining

  1. To flatten; to spread out; to unfold; to expand. [Obs.]
    The horse-chestnut is . . . ready to explain its leaf.
  2. 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.

Phrases & Compounds
To explain away
to get rid of by explanation.

Explain

v. i.
  1. To give an explanation.