LEARN

[verb] [past:] [UK and ANZ] learnt or [esp. US] learned - to obtain knowledge of facts or of how to do things, or an understanding of ideasThey're learning French at school. [T]He's not very good yet, but he's learning. [I]You soon learnt not to speak too loudly. [+ to infinitive]They learnt what to do very quickly. [+ wh- word]First you'll learn (how) to use this machine. [+ wh- word/ + to infinitive]I later learnt that the message had never arrived. [+ that clause]We were shocked when we learnt about/of his sudden death. [I]If you learn a poem, part of a play, etc. (by heart) you can say it from memory without reading it.We were told to learn Portia's speech (by heart) for homework. [T]I hope you'll learn by/from your mistakes (= not do the same bad thing again). [I]He certainly learnt his lesson/learnt the hard way (= suffered a bad experience and will not do it again).She'll just have to learn to live with it (= accept a new but unpleasant situation).