Meaning of understand in English

understand

verb

/ˌʌn.dəˈstænd/ us

/ˌʌn.dɚˈstænd/

understood | understood

understand verb (KNOW)

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A1 [ I or T ]

to know the meaning of something that someone says:

She explained the whole idea again, but I still didn't understand.

Is there anyone here who understands Arabic?

I think he was calling from a club - it was so noisy, I couldn't understand a word he said.

A2 [ I or T ]

to know why or how something happens or works:

[ + question word ] We still don't fully understand how the brain works.

Thesaurus: synonyms, antonyms, and examples

to understand something

understandI understand why he did that.
comprehendHe doesn't seem to comprehend the scale of the problem.
get the pictureOK. Don't say any more. I get the picture.
followIt was so complicated I couldn't follow what he was saying.
graspI think I grasped the main points of the lecture.
digestThis chapter is so difficult to digest. I'll have to read it again later.

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B1 [ I or T ]

to know how someone feels or why someone behaves in a particular way:

My wife doesn't understand me.

Sometimes I don't understand James.

[ + question word ] You don't understand what it's like/how it feels to have to beg on the streets.

understand someone/something to mean something

to think, especially wrongly, that someone means or something is about a particular thing:

When he said three o'clock, I understood him to mean in the afternoon.

understand each other/one another

When two people understand one another, they both know what the other means and wants and they have an agreement:

I wanted to make sure that we want the same things, and that we really understand each other.

More examplesFewer examples

He explained it as simply as he could, but the class still didn't understand.
The plot of the film was too involved - I couldn't understand it.
She started gabbling away at me in Spanish and I didn't understand a word.
If there's anything you don't understand, I'll be happy to explain.
You should make certain that everyone understands the instructions.

SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases

Understanding and comprehending

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You can also find related words, phrases, and synonyms in the topics:

Sympathy & compassion

Empathy and sensitivity

understand verb (REALIZE)

C1 [ T ] formal

to know or realize something because you have been told it:

[ + (that) ] I understand (that) you are interested in borrowing some money from us.

give someone to understand that The Director had given her to understand (= told her) that she would be promoted.

[ + obj + to infinitive ] A secret buyer is understood to have paid $1 million for the three pictures (= there is unofficial news that this has happened).

[ I or T ] formal

used when making certain that someone knows what you mean and will do as you want:

I don't want you to see that boy again. Understand?/Do you understand?/Is that understood?

it is understood formal

used to refer to something such as a rule that everyone knows and accepts:

it is understood that In the library it is understood that people should talk quietly.

More examplesFewer examples

I don't think you quite understand the severity of our financial problems.
I understand the rent is fixed at £750 a month.
I understand how you feel, but you really must keep trying.
It can help to talk to someone who is suffering the same problems and who understands what it's like.
It is hard for the able-bodied to understand the difficulties that disabled people encounter in their daily lives.

SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases

Understanding and comprehending

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You can also find related words, phrases, and synonyms in the topics:

Linguistics: question words & expressions

Idiom

make yourself understood

(Definition of understand from the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary & Thesaurus © Cambridge University Press)

understand | American Dictionary

understand

verb

/ˌʌn·dərˈstænd/

past tense and past participle understood us/ˌʌn·dərˈstʊd/

understand verb (KNOW)

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to know the meaning of something, or to know how a person feels and why the person behaves in a particular way:

[ + question word ] I don’t understand what he means.

[ T ] Is there anyone here who understands English?

[ T ] It was so noisy I couldn’t understand (= recognize) a word he was saying.

[ I ] If you choose not to come, I’ll understand.

[ T ] He claimed that no one ever understood him (= had any sympathy for him or knew what he was feeling).

[ + question word ] I understand how she feels about the loss of her dog.

[ T ] It is understood that (= Everyone knows and accepts that) you don’t bring food or drinks into the library.

understand verb (BELIEVE)

[ T ]

to believe something is true because you have been told something that causes you to think it:

[ + (that) clause ] I understand (that) the show will go on, but with a different cast.

I understood him to say (= I believed that he said) that the trip had been canceled.

(Definition of understand from the Cambridge Academic Content Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)

Examples of understand

understand

Not much influence because of lack of organization, understanding of issues, and means to participate and influence reforms.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

Quality of life and social production functions : a framework for understanding health effects.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

The first page of each category is a practice page to ensure that the subject understands the task.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

After determining that classes of nicotine withdrawal exist, understanding the etiology of withdrawal can be enhanced by applying behavior genetic modeling to the latent classes.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

Thus, institutional design emerges as a factor in understanding lobbying success.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

To achieve this, governments must come to a clearer understanding the role of stakeholder input in governance strategies and of associated metagovernance issues.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

The notion of sectoral specialisation is supported by another branch of recent analysis which involves understanding differences in the characteristics of firm owners.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

Truncated power laws : a tool for understanding aggregation patterns of animals?

From the Cambridge English Corpus

Studying capillary discharged plasma is helpful in understanding the principle of laser production and finding the best experimental parameters.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

The first step in understanding the phenomenon is to name it.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

Taste is a complex, modern phenomenon that can be understood in a number of ways.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

Having already accomplished some of the work of understanding the sentence, the children would have more resources available on the second attempt.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

Alternatively, understanding false belief may be enhanced, but more modestly.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

In later development, language plays a crucial role in understanding the world, and in leading to change in culture-specific behavior.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

Answering this involves stepping outside the discipline of the system designer and understanding the social, material and organisational aspects of medical work.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

See all examples of understand

These examples are from corpora and from sources on the web. Any opinions in the examples do not represent the opinion of the Cambridge Dictionary editors or of Cambridge University Press or its licensors.

What is the pronunciation of understand?

What is the pronunciation of understood?

Translations of understand

in Chinese (Traditional)

知道, 理解, 明白…

in Chinese (Simplified)

知道, 理解, 明白…

in Spanish

entender, comprender…

in Portuguese

compreender, entender, acreditar…

in more languages

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समजणे, कळणे…

（人の言うことなど）が分かる, ～を知っている, （人の気持ち、行動）を理解する…

anlamak, kavramak, anlam vermek…

comprendre, concevoir, apprendre…

entendre…

begrijpen, verstaan…

யாரோ சொல்லும் ஒன்றின் பொருளை அறிய, ஏதாவது ஏன் அல்லது எப்படி நடக்கிறது அல்லது வேலை செய்கிறது என்பதை அறிய, யாரோ எப்படி உணருகிறார்கள் அல்லது யாரோ ஒரு குறிப்பிட்ட வழியில் ஏன் நடந்துகொள்கிறார்கள் என்பதை அறிய…

समझना, जानना कि कोई चीज़ क्यों या कैसे होती है या काम करती है, यह जानना की कोई कैसा महसूस करता है या अलग तरह के बर्ताव क्यों करता है…

સમજવું, માનવું, સમજાવું…

forstå…

förstå, förstå sig på…

faham, memahami, mengetahui…

verstehen, sich verstehen auf, annehmen…