verb (used with object) to make plain or clear; render
understandable or intelligible: to explain an obscure point.
explicate. confuse. to make known in detail: to explain how to
do something. to assign a meaning to; interpret: How can you
explain such a silly remark? to make clear the cause or reason
of; account for: I cannot explain his strange behavior. justify.
verb (used without object) to give an explanation. Verb phrases
explain away, to diminish or nullify the significance of by
explanation: He couldn't explain away his absence from home at
the time the robbery was committed. to dispel (doubts,
difficulties, etc.) by explanation: She explained away the
child's fears.  1375–1425; late Middle English explanen < Latin
explānāre to smooth out, make intelligible, spread out on flat
surface. See ex-1, plane1  explainable, adjective explainer,
explanator [ek-spluh-ney-ter] , noun misexplained, adjective
nonexplainable, adjective overexplain, verb preexplain, verb
reexplain, verb (used with object) unexplaina