| Main Entry: | account for |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | give reason for |
Synonyms: |
clarify, elucidate, explain, justify, resolve |
| Main Entry: | attribute |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | ascribe, assign to source |
Synonyms: |
account for, accredit, apply, associate, blame, charge, connect, credit, fix upon, hang on, hold responsible, impute, lay, pin on, refer, reference, trace |
| Main Entry: | develop |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | unfold; be made known |
Synonyms: |
account for, acquire, actualize, disclose, disentangle, elaborate, evolve, exhibit, explain, explicate, foretell, form, materialize, produce, reach, realize, recount, state, uncoil, uncover, unfurl, unravel, unroll, untwist, unwind |
| Main Entry: | explain |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | make clear; give a reason for |
Synonyms: |
account for, analyze, annotate, break down, bring out, clarify, clear up, construe, decipher, define, demonstrate, describe, diagram, disclose, elucidate, excuse, explicate, expound, get across, go into detail, illustrate, interpret, justify, make plain, manifest, paraphrase, point out, put across, put in plain English, rationalize, read, refine, render, resolve, reveal, set right, solve, spell out, teach, tell, throw light upon, translate, unfold, unravel, untangle |
| Notes: | explicate also contains the implication that the something of which an account is being given is more complicated or detailed - so while one may explain why a child is crying, one would explicate the meaning of a poem or implications of a legal document; early senses of explain were 'smooth out' and 'spread flat' |
Antonyms: |
be vague, complicate, confuse, mystify, obscure, perplex |
| Main Entry: | rationalize |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | make excuse; justify |
Synonyms: |
account for, apply logic, cop a plea, cop out, deliberate, elucidate, excise, excuse, explain away, extenuate, give alibi, intellectualize, justify, make allowance, reason, reason out, reconcile, resolve, think, think through, vindicate |
| Main Entry: | recite |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | read out loud; narrate |
Synonyms: |
account for, address, answer, chant, communicate, convey, declaim, delineate, deliver, describe, detail, discourse, dramatize, enact, enlarge, enumerate, expatiate, explain, give a report, give an account, give verbal account, hold forth, impart, interpret, itemize, mention, parrot, perform, picture, portray, quote, recapitulate, recount, reel off, rehearse, relate, render, repeat, reply, report, retell, soliloquize, speak, state, tell, utter |
| Main Entry: | report |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | communicate information, knowledge |
Synonyms: |
account for, advise, air, announce, bring word, broadcast, cable, circulate, cover, declare, describe, detail, disclose, document, enunciate, give an account of, give the facts, impart, inform, inscribe, itemize, list, make known, make public, mention, narrate, note, notify, pass on, present, proclaim, promulgate, provide details, publish, recite, record, recount, rehearse, relate, relay, retail, reveal, set forth, spread, state, summarize, telephone, tell, trumpet, wire, write up |
Antonyms: |
conceal, suppress |
| Main Entry: | answer for |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | be accountable for |
Synonyms: |
accept the responsibility for, account for, atone for, be responsible for, explain, justify, pay for, take the blame for |