understand
Other forms: understood; understanding; understands
To understand something is to comprehend or get it. The more we learn, the more we understand.
The goal of most education is to help students understand how the world works: history, math, English, music, science, and art are all complicated subjects that you need to practice and think about before you can really understand them. Understanding requires knowledge and thought. Another kind of understanding is like sympathy. For example, you might not approve of stealing, but you could understand why a guy would steal to feed his family.
Definitions of understand
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know and comprehend the nature or meaning of“She did not understand her husband”“I understand what she means”
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types:
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apprehend, compass, comprehend, dig, get the picture, grasp, grok, savvy
understand or perceive the meaning of something
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sense
comprehend
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follow
grasp the meaning
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catch, get
grasp with the mind or develop an understanding of
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touch
comprehend
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interpret, read, translate
make sense of a language
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read
to hear and understand
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construe, interpret, see
make sense of; assign a meaning to
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make out
comprehend
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figure out, lick, puzzle out, solve, work, work out
find the solution to (a problem or question) or understand the meaning of
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bottom, fathom, penetrate
come to understand
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figure
understand
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catch on, cotton on, get it, get onto, get wise, latch on, tumble, twig
understand, usually after some initial difficulty
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intuit
know or grasp by intuition or feeling
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digest, process
arrange and integrate in the mind
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be amiss, misapprehend, misconceive, misconstrue, misinterpret, misunderstand
interpret in the wrong way
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read between the lines
understand what is implied but not expressed on the surface
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mythicise, mythicize
interpret as a myth or in terms of mythology
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literalise, literalize
make literal
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spiritualise, spiritualize
give a spiritual meaning to; read in a spiritual sense
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reinterpret
assign a new or different meaning to
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allegorise, allegorize
interpret as an allegory
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read, take
interpret something in a certain way; convey a particular meaning or impression
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read
interpret something that is written or printed
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read, scan
obtain data from magnetic tapes
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answer, resolve
understand the meaning of
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riddle
explain a riddle
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strike
arrive at after reckoning, deliberating, and weighing
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guess, infer
guess correctly; solve by guessing
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answer
give the correct answer or solution to
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break
find the solution or key to
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draw out, educe, elicit, evoke, extract
deduce (a principle) or construe (a meaning)
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perceive (an idea or situation) mentally“I don't understand the idea”
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envision, fancy, figure, image, picture, project, see, visualise, visualize
imagine; conceive of; see in one's mind
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see
see and understand, have a good eye
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types:
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perceive
become conscious of
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appreciate, take account
be fully aware of; realize fully
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sense, smell, smell out
become aware of not through the senses but instinctively
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envision, fancy, figure, image, picture, project, see, visualise, visualize
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be understanding of“You don't need to explain--I understand!”
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synonyms:
empathise, empathize, sympathise, sympathize
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make sense of a language
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believe to be the case
Pronunciation
US
/ˈəndərˌstænd/
UK
/əndəˈstænd/
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DISCLAIMER: These example sentences appear in various news sources and books to reflect the usage of the word ‘understand'.
Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Vocabulary.com or its editors.
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