2
general::
understand
to know the meaning of something, or the reasons for something:
• I understand what you’re saying. • Doctors are beginning to understand what causes the disease.
see
especially spoken to understand something, especially the truth about a situation or the reasons for something:
• I can see why you don’t like him. • Do you see what I mean? • Oh, I see!
get
informal to understand a joke, what someone says, the reasons why something is true etc:
• She didn’t seem to get the joke. • Do you get me? • He explained the math homework twice, but I still don’t get it . • I still don’t get why she left.
comprehend
formal to understand something, or understand why something is important:
• The dream was easy to describe, but difficult to comprehend. • They had failed to comprehend the significance of the problem.
know what somebody means
spoken to understand what someone is telling you, or what a situation is like, especially because you have some experience or knowledge about this:
• ‘It can be really hard to give up smoking.’ ‘I know exactly what you mean.’ • We now know what the scientists meant when they warned about global warming.
follow
to understand something such as an explanation or story as you hear it, read it etc:
• The plot is hard to follow. • His instructions were easy to follow.
to understand something difficult
grasp
to completely understand an idea or a fact, especially a complicated one:
• Some of his theories can be rather difficult for the ordinary reader to grasp. • I don’t think Stuart really grasped the point I was making.
fathom
formal to understand what something means or the reasons for something, after thinking carefully about it:
• She looked at him, puzzled, trying to fathom the reasons for his actions.
make sense of something
to understand something that is not easy to understand, especially by thinking about it:
• People are still trying to make sense of the news.
can’t make head nor tail of something
spoken used when something seems impossible to understand:
• I can’t make head nor tail of his plays, and I’m not sure that anyone else can either.
Longman-Thesaurus
3
general::
verb ADV. clearly, well | fully, perfectly, quite I fully understand the reason for your decision. | not really Her behaviour wounded him in a way he did not really understand. | adequately | correctly, properly She realized that she had never properly understood him. | easily, readily The reasons for this decision are not easily understood. | instinctively, intuitively She intuitively understood his need to be alone. VERB + UNDERSTAND be able/unable to, can/could I can't understand what all the fuss is about. | try to | begin to | be easy to | be difficult to, be hard to It is difficult to understand why he reacted in that way. | help (to), help sb (to) PREP. about We understand little about this disease. PHRASES be commonly/generally/popularly understood What is generally understood by ‘democracy’? | be imperfectly/incompletely/poorly understood The effects of these chemicals on the body are still poorly understood. | be universally/widely understood
Oxford Collocations Dictionary