un ‧ der ‧ stand S1 W1 /ˌʌndəˈstænd $ -ər-/ BrE AmE verb ( past tense and past participle understood /-ˈstʊd/) [not in progressive]
[ Word Family: adjective : ↑ understandable , ↑ understanding , ↑ misunderstood ; verb : ↑ understand ≠ ↑ misunderstand ; noun : ↑ understanding ≠ ↑ misunderstanding ; adverb : ↑ understandably ]
[ Language: Old English ; Origin: understandan , from under + standan 'to stand' ]
1 . MEANING [intransitive and transitive] to know the meaning of what someone is telling you, or the language that they speak ⇨ misunderstood :
She doesn’t understand English.
I’m sorry, I don’t understand. Can you explain that again?
The woman had a strong accent, and I couldn’t understand what she was saying.
make yourself understood (=make what you say clear to other people, especially when speaking a foreign language)
I’m not very good at German, but I can make myself understood.
⇨ see Thesaurus box on P. 1916
2 . FACT/IDEA [intransitive and transitive] to know or realize how a fact, process, situation etc works, especially through learning or experience:
I don’t really understand the political situation in Northern Ireland.
understand how/why/where etc
You don’t need to understand how computers work to be able to use them.
How the drug works isn’t fully understood.
understand (that)
I understand that this treatment may not work.
3 . PERSON/FEELINGS [intransitive and transitive] to realize how someone feels and why they behave the way they do, and to be sympathetic:
My parents just don’t understand me.
Just tell him how you feel – I’m sure he’ll understand.
understand how/what etc
I understand how you feel, but I think you’re overreacting.
(can) understand somebody doing something
I can understand her wanting to live alone and be independent.
4 . BELIEVE/THINK [transitive] to believe or think that something is true because you have heard it or read it
understand (that)
‘I understand that he was 62 when he died,’ McLeish said.
it is understood (that)
It is understood that the Queen approves of her nephew’s romance.
be understood to be (doing) something
Dillons is understood to be reorganising the company’s management structure.
5 . give somebody to understand (that) formal to make someone believe that something is true, going to happen etc, without telling them this directly:
I was given to understand that the property was in good condition.
6 . be understood (that) formal if something is understood, everyone knows it, or has agreed to it, and there is no need to discuss it:
From childhood it was understood that your parents would choose your husband.
7 . understand something to be/mean something to accept something as having a particular meaning:
In this document, ‘children’ is understood to mean people under 14.
8 . do you understand? spoken used when you are telling someone what they should or should not do, especially when you are angry with them:
Never speak to me like that again! Do you understand?
• • •
THESAURUS
▪ 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 /ˈfæð ə m/ 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.