Crossword clues for explanation
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
explanation
noun
COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES
a likely explanation
▪ What is the most likely explanation for the way she acted?
a rational explanation
▪ I told myself that there must be some simple, rational explanation.
a reasonable explanation/excuse
▪ He tried to think of a reasonable excuse.
ask for an explanation
▪ When he asked for an explanation, no one could give him an answer.
credible explanation/story/account etc
▪ He was unable to give a credible explanation for his behaviour.
▪ Her excuse was barely credible.
implausible theory/idea/explanation etc
▪ Margaret found his excuse somewhat implausible.
lame excuse/explanation
▪ She gave some lame excuse about missing the bus.
put forward a reason/explanation
▪ A variety of reasons have been put forward to explain these changes.
COLLOCATIONS FROM CORPUS
■ ADJECTIVE
adequate
▪ It is very hard to provide a simple but adequate explanation.
▪ The analyst must be sensitive to possible environmental effects when attempting to provide an adequate explanation for a particular political behavior.
▪ Nor is economic failure an adequate explanation.
▪ It is, rather, the context in which more adequate explanation can occur, or at least be attempted.
▪ But is this an adequate explanation?
▪ As a result, there is rarely the time to provide adequate explanations as to why a particular step is carried out.
▪ However, other data presented here suggest that this is not an adequate explanation.
alternative
▪ But the teams are rapidly running out of alternative explanations for these events.
▪ Defensible conclusions in analyses of politics often require extensive data, thorough analysis, and consideration of several alternative explanations.
▪ But an alternative explanation had also come to him which he knew he should not ignore.
▪ We may need alternative explanations or interpretations.
▪ This is certainly a very plausible alternative explanation for the demise of the Daily Herald.
▪ An alternative explanation of such uplifts involves the effects of density changes in minerals in the upper mantle.
▪ At the same time, it is not alone in the field: there are alternative mystical explanations of misfortune.
▪ They can be encouraged to consider alternative explanations.
causal
▪ Among the studies that have found that small farms have higher land productivity, different causal explanations may be found.
▪ The orbital motion of the earth provided a causal explanation for why the planets appeared to meander across the sky.
▪ Nor have we tried to decide whether rules and reasons can only be considered in a hermeneutic framework incompatible with causal explanation.
▪ This view characterises most sociological explanations of crime, including those that fall into the third category of causal explanation: invention.
▪ Is the meaning account merely preliminary to a real causal explanation?
▪ Crucially, therefore, causal explanation is the proper procedure when we engage in natural science but not elsewhere.
▪ The Smith-Thomson critique offers no causal explanation of precisely why shifts have occurred in the balance of community and state provision.
▪ From these examples it will begin to be apparent that witchcraft is invoked as a causal explanation of irregularities.
clear
▪ Each book in this highly-acclaimed series provides clear explanations of some of the main principles behind language teaching.
▪ It provides clear explanations, under alphabetically ordered entries, of virtually all learners' recurrent difficulties.
▪ At the very least a clear case is owed a clear explanation if it is rejected.
▪ We have no clear explanation for the thrombosis of the pseudoaneurysm in our case.
▪ The tutorials in the maths and science books contain clear explanations for how to arrive at the answers.
▪ He was himself a greatly talented teacher, a master of clear explanation and a fine blackboard artist.
▪ I have become confused recently and would appreciate a clear explanation.
▪ A number of explanations for these results are available, but it is not yet clear which explanations are correct.
detailed
▪ A good way of breaking up the detailed explanation is to add a quotation or two in this section.
▪ None the less, the concepts are powerful and provide a way into understanding the more detailed managerial explanations that follow later.
▪ The Pru is sending a detailed explanation of the accruals method and the full accruals figures for 1991 and 1990 to shareholders.
▪ Out of necessity these are brief as a detailed explanation would fill a book by itself.
▪ It is provided for reference purposes; you will find more detailed explanations elsewhere in this manual?
▪ See Appendix 1 for a detailed explanation of each of these.
different
▪ Several quite different kinds of explanation might be suggested for these observations.
▪ Although each approach provides a different explanation of how politics works, they all share two important features. 1.
▪ Among the studies that have found that small farms have higher land productivity, different causal explanations may be found.
▪ Could there be a different explanation altogether?
▪ Marx's work offers a very different explanation for the inequalities within and between societies.
▪ Pearson also examines the recurrent nature of different explanations of the criminal question.
▪ This is, however, a revealing case study in that disagreements show up the different modes of explanation clearly.
▪ There can be a number of different levels of explanation.
full
▪ Turn to page 25 for a fuller explanation.
▪ Patients received a full explanation of the relevance of the external sphincter in controlling anorectal functioning before starting biofeedback.
▪ Mr Wingate was full of explanations, and precious few of them made sense.
▪ Your answer need not be quite as full as the explanations given here.
▪ The authors conclude that a combination of the last two models offers the best prospect of a full explanation.
▪ For a fuller explanation see paragraph 17-02, below.
▪ See preceding error message in the incident log file for a fuller explanation of the error encountered.
further
▪ The word merits requires further explanation.
▪ For them, wealth concentration requires no further explanation.
▪ So dismissive a judgment requires further explanation.
▪ Jobs was not available for further explanation.
▪ Without further explanation, their escorts led the puzzled party away from their quarters.
▪ Then I drove off, with my clothes and without further explanation, to my parents' house.
▪ Soon, people in the divisions learn to live with their binds by generating further explanations.
▪ The traditional term will serve, even if it is one the scope of which requires further explanation.
likely
▪ Running was the most likely explanation.
▪ I had suggested some new tropical disease was a far more likely explanation.
▪ The most likely explanation for this is that the vehicle itself is not actually speeding up, but the cooling fan is!
▪ These relaxations are a more likely explanation for oesophagopharyngeal reflux than defective basal upper oesophageal sphincter tone.
▪ The most likely explanation seems to be that stroking makes leaf tissues tougher.
▪ The more likely explanation is that she was pressurising him to leave your daughter to marry her.
▪ The most likely explanation was her offer to buy him dinner in return for the loan of the flat.
obvious
▪ No obvious explanation was available and Customs and Excise raised an assessment.
▪ For this, there seems to be at least one obvious explanation.
▪ As goals at Arsenal became fewer, most people plumped for the most obvious explanation.
▪ There is an obvious materialist explanation.
▪ The most obvious explanation is that reflux of duodenal content into the stomach after operation is responsible.
▪ The obvious explanation for the vividness of her memory is that it involved an outstanding event in her athletic career.
▪ If there is no obvious explanation for this loss of restraint, what is the hidden one?
▪ Such apparently obvious explanations for the desertion of a settlement are, however, too simplistic.
only
▪ Moreover, memory may be impaired for a variety of reasons, lack of initial attention is not the only possible explanation.
▪ Berowne's only explanation had been that he felt it was time for his life to take a new direction.
▪ That seemed the only possible explanation.
▪ Is the standard unified model the only possible explanation of the experimental data it so well describes?
▪ Is the only explanation to be found in the liberal application of intention in interpreting trusts?
▪ Static electricity - that was the only explanation - although from his bland expression he had felt no similar spark on contact.
▪ Coalition mongering is the only plausible explanation.
▪ The only possible explanation is that they are holding a wooden effigy.
other
▪ Hence, Freeman is refuted since presumably other explanations are conceivable, even if it turns out they aren't very interesting.
▪ The advantage of the design is that it allows us to exclude other explanations.
▪ There seemed no other explanation than a hair-line fracture.
▪ The flashpoints model is therefore inapplicable to this form of disorder and other explanations are therefore necessary.
▪ There are many other possible explanations for the missing 100 attendances.
▪ They look around for other explanations and ulterior motives.
▪ But there could be other explanations.
▪ In relation to literature at least, two other explanations suggest themselves.
plausible
▪ This is certainly a very plausible alternative explanation for the demise of the Daily Herald.
▪ But that scenario presented geophysicists with a radical yet plausible explanation for the anti-continents.
▪ Try processing all the relevant information contained in the problem to help you come up with one plausible explanation.
▪ The most plausible explanation of this observation is an abrupt, massive, global acidification of rainwater.
▪ One plausible area for explanation might lie in the experience of material security or insecurity.
▪ This explanation fits the facts and is psychologically plausible.
▪ There is only one really plausible explanation.
▪ Coalition mongering is the only plausible explanation.
possible
▪ Three possible explanations come to mind.
▪ One possible explanation is that the beacons have a history of malfunctioning during bad weather.
▪ The first child offers a possible explanation which reasonably draws on his knowledge of how water levels in containers can go down.
▪ Moreover, memory may be impaired for a variety of reasons, lack of initial attention is not the only possible explanation.
▪ That seemed the only possible explanation.
▪ Is the standard unified model the only possible explanation of the experimental data it so well describes?
▪ Unfortunately, since there are so many possible explanations, the correct one is most difficult to ascertain.
▪ It is worth examining briefly some of the possible explanations for this emphasis on remedial law.
rational
▪ Only now have scientists begun to offer rational explanations for this phenomenon.
▪ Through their various plights, the drama questions a world where feminine ideals regularly defy rational explanation.
▪ This is the mystery of sin which has no rational explanation, for it is ultimately and radically inexplicable.
▪ Either way, there has to be some rational explanation of Clinton's conduct.
▪ There was a rational explanation for all this and, when Carol arrived, he'd discover what it was.
▪ I told myself that there must be some simple, rational explanation, something Illingworth had overlooked.
▪ In any case, Amiss's mind was racing, grappling with a situation devoid of any rational explanation.
▪ Some constructs may reflect pre-verbal bases of organization which can not be accounted for by rational explanation.
reasonable
▪ You're not stupid and you know what you saw but she may have some other reasonable explanation.
▪ For a majority of things, reasonable explanations have been provided.
▪ Now he had vanished with no reasonable explanation whatever.
▪ The statistics indicate a reasonable level of explanation for a difference equation.
▪ He could give no reasonable explanation.
▪ A policeman had suspected them for loitering about, they wouldn't give a reasonable explanation or account of themselves.
satisfactory
▪ We never have a satisfactory explanation of where it comes from.
▪ So far, neither nature nor nurture has provided a completely satisfactory explanation.
▪ Can I offer any more satisfactory explanation of the mystery of existence?
▪ This is an extraordinary ratio, and there has never been a satisfactory explanation for it.
▪ A more satisfactory explanation might be that different moral considerations apply for different people in similar situations.
▪ To date, no one has been able to come up with a satisfactory explanation.
▪ We must now change gear somewhat, and ask what it would take for such relationships to be treated as satisfactory explanations.
scientific
▪ For this reason, it is important to examine those societies that appear to contradict much of scientific and commonsensical explanation.
▪ This is still not a scientific explanation.
▪ The statements can be from other children in the class or they might be standard scientific explanations.
▪ In traditional macho science, scientific explanations stressed hierarchies and unidirectional causal paths.
▪ There were sensible, scientific explanations about the effect of the changes in air pressure.
▪ The concept of purpose is creeping back into scientific explanations.
▪ To Boltwood, the scientific explanation is immaterial.
▪ The shared concept of scientific explanation was always contestable and has of late been radically contested.
simple
▪ There is no simple explanation, but there are two main threads.
▪ Hence differentiated products provide a simple explanation of intraindustry trade.
▪ It is very hard to provide a simple but adequate explanation.
▪ But the simplest explanation is perhaps the most convincing.
▪ For this there was one simple explanation.
▪ I told myself that there must be some simple, rational explanation, something Illingworth had overlooked.
▪ Group behaviour is rarely patient of simple explanations.
▪ So the simplest explanation is the one that can include the whole range of complex elements within one integral and harmonious scheme.
social
▪ The very radical autonomy of modernist cultural forms makes their social or social-historical explanation an extremely difficult pursuit.
▪ How can one possibly advance a social explanation for practices whose very constitutive principle is their independence from society?
▪ Contemporary political struggles organised on religious lines clearly need social and economic explanations.
▪ Gender should never be used as a bottom line explanation because it is a social construction needing explanation itself.
▪ There is an obvious social motive behind explanations with a sharing function.
▪ For these suggest that holism and individualism can fruitfully be seen as serving different interests in social explanation.
▪ The polarity between biological and social explanations of subjectivity has been as controversial among western feminists as among psychologists.
▪ Althusser's abolition of the subject therefore commits him to an unequivocally holist account of social explanation.
■ VERB
accept
▪ These comparisons ` serve as a rough negative check on accepted historical explanations.
▪ Because of this people were willing to accept poorly formulated religious explanations which had little or nothing to do with the Bible.
▪ Whatever Jean saw in you that first occasion was still there and she accepted your explanation about letting her down that evening.
▪ Neta accepted the explanation at face value.
▪ He accepted the explanation without question.
▪ He sat appropriately in his chair and accepted explanations for the work that was to begin.
▪ It was almost as difficult to accept a natural explanation as a supernatural explanation.
▪ Cranston just nodded, accepting his explanation as something irrelevant.
demand
▪ When Matilda had demanded an explanation, Isabel had given it to her, omitting nothing.
▪ She loved him in ways that were never quite clear, but one does not demand explanations in matters of love.
▪ Then she hurried into the hall and picked up the telephone, intent upon speaking to Ursula and demanding an explanation.
▪ Something in the loch has produced some very peculiar sonar traces on some very sophisticated equipment, and that something demands explanation.
▪ This verbal testimony stems from the silent witness of a quality of life which demands an explanation.
▪ Trimble demanded an explanation from Sinn Fein.
▪ With difficulty Shiona resisted the urge to phone him up at home and demand an explanation.
▪ But later he told a Melbourne radio station that he would demand an explanation if he were asked to step down.
find
▪ I hope that you find this explanation helpful.
▪ One can go to the thousands of human societies and find ingenious explanations for each incidence of masculinity and femininity.
▪ As I think I said, such noises as I have experienced have eventually found explanations.
▪ And as no-one takes the paradigm seriously, no-one is troubled to try to find an explanation for the seemingly anomalous data.
▪ I try to find an explanation for him.
▪ Although they sat up later than their normal bedtime, neither could find any explanation.
▪ The first school of thought tended to examine data on outcomes in order to find an explanation.
▪ The demographic evidence on this matter has been examined above and found wanting as an explanation of population growth.
give
▪ It makes it clear that the fire caused the accident but it doesn't give any explanation of what caused the fire.
▪ Daniels Cablevision gave a similar explanation for its policy.
▪ These are the intuitions that give holist and individualist explanations their initial plausibility.
▪ We can, however, give one self-consistent explanation that agrees with the known facts.
▪ I want to give an explanation of my own experience described there.
▪ This theory enables one to give an explanation for the existence of the universe, in terms of a goal or purpose.
▪ Locke gives much the same explanation.
▪ He gave no explanation for his action, but it seemed to reflect the edginess with which government authorities view the anniversary.
need
▪ And Londoners need explanations and reassurance.
▪ She now feels, however, that she has gone beyond romance and needs explanations of hard real life.
▪ Experiments with water Older preschoolers will enjoy these simple experiments, which will need your supervision and explanation.
▪ We may need alternative explanations or interpretations.
▪ The paradox of this maintained demand, despite the return of higher food prices and periodic scarcities, needs explanation.
▪ Apparent miracles of complexity in animals act hence need no explanation beyond those involved in how they are built.
▪ It needs support from an explanation, in terms of the conditional theory, of how there can be such counter-examples.
▪ Anxiety dreams - which again need little explanation.
offer
▪ The first child offers a possible explanation which reasonably draws on his knowledge of how water levels in containers can go down.
▪ He offered another explanation for why Sen.
▪ Each, in any event, offers explanations at a level deeper than prediction.
▪ I tried to offer explanations, drawing on my brief legal experience.
▪ It does not offer another explanation, however.
▪ They offered no explanation for why they failed to mention the excessive airborne formaldehyde last week.
▪ Fletcher offered no explanation till he had driven away from the Parc Hotel.
▪ The approach is cognitive and the books offer a combination of explanations, examples, and a variety of imaginative exercises.
owe
▪ At the very least a clear case is owed a clear explanation if it is rejected.
▪ Of course, a decision not to have children is a legitimate choice, and whoever makes it owes no explanation.
▪ At the same time I felt I was owed an explanation.
▪ It seemed to me I owed him some explanation.
provide
▪ The principles of politeness and co-operation are not, on their own, enough to provide the explanation for this inference.
▪ Although each approach provides a different explanation of how politics works, they all share two important features. 1.
▪ The orbital motion of the earth provided a causal explanation for why the planets appeared to meander across the sky.
▪ History-events may occur in addition to the experimental treatment and thus provide alternate explanations of effects.
▪ And it provides a useful explanation for the power house that fuels certain cosmic sources.
▪ Without calling Josta a carbonated love potion, Pepsi provides a little explanation on the back of each can.
▪ Religion plays a vital role in society because it provides an explanation of origin and destiny, of identity and purpose.
▪ Heather had never seen this in him before but it provided an explanation to something that had been bothering her.
require
▪ There will, however, be some cases where the minister's decision is more complex, and requires some explanation.
▪ For them, wealth concentration requires no further explanation.
▪ The word merits requires further explanation.
▪ A monistic starting point for the cosmos requires an explanation to account for the variety and multiplicity in the cosmos.
▪ Relationships between the government and the employing organisation require explanation too.
▪ The reason for this alliance, though it requires some explanation, was not essentially complex.
▪ The detail of this book requires more explanation than is possible here, but this is a rewarding book to read.
▪ These are examples of the many questions about politics that require explanation, not mere descriptive facts.
seek
▪ One approach is to seek an adaptive explanation.
▪ The governor and his son declined to return calls seeking explanation for the Symington entry in Melones Internacional incorporation documents.
▪ The most fruitful procedure might well be to seek lines of explanation other than those associated with the notion of prestige.
▪ Sitting on the hearthrug, Bobby looked at her, mutely seeking an explanation for his master's absence.
▪ Science naturally seeks a fuller explanation of that behavior; its goal is the destruction of mystery.
▪ He telephoned Yorkshire Television to seek explanations and advice, demanding plaintively in a guttural accent.
▪ We seek explanations when something puzzles or surprises us.
PHRASES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
owe sb an explanation/apology
▪ At the same time I felt I was owed an explanation.
▪ At the very least a clear case is owed a clear explanation if it is rejected.
▪ I guess I owe her an apology.
▪ I think these people who said those hateful things about him owe him an apology.
▪ I think you owe an apology to Clegg.
▪ In light of this, do you feel you owe the world an apology?
▪ Of course, a decision not to have children is a legitimate choice, and whoever makes it owes no explanation.
▪ You owe him an apology for misjudging him and suspecting his motives at every turn.
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
▪ Can you give us a quick explanation of how it works?
▪ Coach Green wasn't willing to accept his explanation.
▪ Each diagram is followed by a simple explanation.
▪ He offered no explanation for his absence at the previous day's meeting.
▪ I don't know why he tested positive for drugs. The only explanation I can think of is that the samples got mixed up.
▪ Our guide gave us a detailed explanation of the system of government.
▪ Scientists have offered various explanations for these changes in climate.
▪ She offered no explanation as to why she had left so suddenly.
▪ There are several possible explanations for girls' superior high school performance.
▪ This work should have been finished a week ago. What's your explanation?
▪ What was their explanation for their decision?
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
▪ Does the as-if strategy of pragmatism allow a better explanation?
▪ One can go to the thousands of human societies and find ingenious explanations for each incidence of masculinity and femininity.
▪ Some of these critiques give mono-casual, but most give multi-dimensional, explanations of the links between law and society.
▪ Students can rewrite an explanation for a different audience, such as their younger brothers and sisters.
▪ The kind of explanation we come up with must not contradict the laws of physics.
▪ The people who consider themselves to be pentecostals are uncomfortable with explanations of their movement that seem to explain it away.
▪ This can be ascribed to the absence of any craft-related explanation of the changes.
▪ Unless Guy came up with an acceptable explanation, the entire Court would be gossiping about them.
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Explanation
Explanation \Ex`pla*na"tion\, n. [L. explanatio: cf. OF. esplanation.]
The act of explaining, expounding, or interpreting; the act of clearing from obscurity and making intelligible; as, the explanation of a passage in Scripture, or of a contract or treaty.
That which explains or makes clear; as, a satisfactory explanation.
-
The meaning attributed to anything by one who explains it; definition; interpretation; sense.
Different explanations [of the Trinity].
--Bp. Burnet. -
A mutual exposition of terms, meaning, or motives, with a view to adjust a misunderstanding, and reconcile differences; reconciliation; agreement; as, to come to an explanation.
Syn: Definition; description; explication; exposition; interpretation; detail. See Definition.
Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
Wiktionary
explanation
n. 1 The act or process of explaining. 2 Something that explains, makes understandable. 3 (context euphemistic English) An excuse, apologetic justification not based on enough evidence.
WordNet
explanation
n. a statement that makes something comprehensible by describing the relevant structure or operation or circumstances etc.; "the explanation was very simple"; "I expected a brief account" [syn: account]
thought that makes something comprehensible
the act of explaining; making something plain or intelligible; "I heard his explanation of the accident"
Wikipedia
Explanation
An explanation is a set of statements constructed to describe a set of facts which clarifies the causes, context, and consequences of those facts. This description may establish rules or laws, and may clarify the existing ones in relation to any objects, or phenomena examined. The components of an explanation can be implicit, and be interwoven with one another.
An explanation is often underpinned by an understanding that is represented by different media such as music, text, and graphics. Thus, an explanation is subjected to interpretation, and discussion.
In scientific research, explanation is one of several "purposes" for empirical research. Explanation is a way to uncover new knowledge, and to report relationships among different aspects of studied phenomena. Explanation attempts to answer the "why" question. Explanations have varied explanatory power. The formal hypothesis is the theoretical tool used to verify explanation in empirical research.
Explanation (poem)
"Explanation" is a poem from Wallace Stevens's first book of poetry, Harmonium (1923). It was first published in 1917, so it is in the public domain. This poem may be an explanation of the difference between conventional decoration and artistic imagination, the latter represented, as Buttel proposes, by an allusion to Chagall and the otherworldly charm of his paintings.
Usage examples of "explanation".
They accepted the most arbitrary and simple explanations of their accumulated net of relationships, and were oblivious even to fundamental changes in that net.
Mr Advowson had described of its composition could bear a particular explanation.
Villiers, the leader of the anti-cornlaw party in the commons, demanded final and explicit explanations from the government, alleging that distrust and alarm filled the country.
Heaven were reproduced on earth, until a web of fiction and allegory was woven, partly by art and partly by the ignorance of error, which the wit of man, with his limited means of explanation, will never unravel.
Naturally it followed that Symbolism soon became more complicated, and all the powers of Heaven were reproduced on earth, until a web of fiction and allegory was woven, which the wit of man, with his limited means of explanation, will never unravel.
In general, Sartre was suspicious of psychoanalysis, put off by what he saw as dogmatic symbolism, mechanistic explanation, a preponderant role for the unconscious and sexuality, and an analytic method dividing the personality into hermetic components rather than attempting to comprehend it both in its singularity and, synthetically, as an indivisible totality.
Sunstrand Power and Light utility, a nontechnical explanation of the processes of DT-cycle lithiumized annular fusion and its applications in domestic energy production.
A specific antibody used against a specific virus should have destroyed the virus or slowed its progress, and there seemed to be no rational explanation for the dreadful response of the uninfected ones who had been inoculated for protection.
The mamuti, anticipating the need for explanations to relieve the anxieties caused by this startling innovation, had mentally searched the theoretical construct of their metaphysical world for answers that would satisfy.
When a young lady screams at the sight of a spider, we accept her explanation that she has a natural antipathy to the creature.
The explanation of these exhibitions is as follows: The instrument enters the mouth and pharynx, then the esophagus, traverses the cardiac end of the stomach, and enters the latter as far as the antrum of the pylorus, the small culdesac of the stomach.
Edna led the three women released from Bertram Gaol out onto the floor and offered them an explanation of where they stood and how they had arrived there.
Either from a distrustful temperament, long habit, or great familiarity with the character of her companion, however, she did not listen to his explanation without betraying some doubts of its truth.
She hardly noticed when the explanations degenerated into another brangle over which of the girls his lordship preferred.
They were both in the gondola of Jacopo, and on their way to one of the passages through the Lido which conducts to the gulf, before the Bravo commenced his explanation.