ˈsälv, ˈsȯlv also ˈsä(u̇)v or ˈsȯv verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
Etymology: Middle English solven, from Latin solvere, soluere to loosen, free, pay, solve, dissolve, from sed-, se- apart (from sed, se without) + luere to release, atone for — more at lose
transitive verb
1. obsolete : to set loose or free
2.
a. : to find an answer, solution, explanation, or remedy for : arrive at a clear, definite, and satisfying answer to (the difficult, obscure, or urgent)
the members of these commissions … solve administrative difficulties, and save the state money — American Guide Series: Delaware
b. : to perform the operations required to solve (a mathematical problem) : work out
3.
a. : to make payment of (as a debt or money)
b. : to free oneself of (an obligation)
4. : to cause to go into solution : dissolve
intransitive verb
: to solve something
Synonyms:
resolve , unfold , unravel , decipher : solve is the most general in meaning and suggestion in this group; it applies to finding a satisfactory answer or solution, usually to something of at least moderate difficulty
the mystery and disquieting meaninglessness of existence … were solved for me now — L.P.Smith
create a difficulty rather than solve one — A.M.Young
resolve , as contrasted with solve , is likely to indicate analytic arrangement and consideration of the various phases or items of a problem or situation rather than finding a final solution or answer and is likely to suggest dispelling of confusion or perplexity by a clear formulation of questions or issues
you may find it of some interest to be told that the law has had to struggle with these problems and to know how it has resolved them — B.N.Cardozo
In some situations this process may achieve an answer, especially a ready or summary one
he was at the same time resolving successive tangles of intrigue against himself and his policy — Hilaire Belloc
it was realized that the method of resolving apparent contradictions by liquidating one of the contradictories is not the way to arrive at true solutions — Times Literary Supplement
unfold indicates continuous opening up, clarifying, making more and more clear and patent until a full solution or resolution is apparent
went around and through and behind a situation, unfolding it … to include possibilities he hadn't known were upon its horizon — Mary Austin
saw the great truth of evolution unfolded — Waldemar Kaempffert
the method of unfolding the course of a plot must in some ways be different in a play meant for acting and in a book meant for reading — C.E.Montague
unravel stresses the notion of making a clear and orderly rearrangement of something entangled or a simple ordering of something complicated, especially by patient endeavor
the details are difficult to unravel at this distance of time — H.O.Taylor
a whole elaborate plot may be unravelled by discovering the one relevant detail — W.O.Aydelotte
decipher stresses the notion of finding the meaning or significance of something very obscure, clouded, cryptic, or enigmatic
placing of a writer or other artist in his proper rank or in deciphering the less obvious intentions of his work — C.E.Montague
the results, so far as they could be deciphered from the puzzling procedure and twisted combinations, confirmed what had gone before — Atlantic