- explanation
- nounADJECTIVE▪ convincing, credible, good, likely, logical, natural, obvious, plausible, probable, rational▪
The most likely explanation is that his plane was delayed.
▪ implausible, inadequate, unlikely▪ acceptable, adequate, reasonable, satisfactory, sufficient▪ further▪No further explanation is necessary.
▪ no apparent▪There was no apparent explanation for the attack.
▪ clear, coherent▪ complete, comprehensive, detailed, full▪ partial▪ complex, complicated▪ easy, simple▪ innocent, prosaic▪There's sure to be a perfectly innocent explanation for all this—though I admit it looks bizarre.
▪ convenient▪ accepted, traditional▪There is no generally accepted explanation of this practice.
▪ official▪ possible▪ alternative▪ correct, real, true▪ brief▪ lengthy, long▪ verbal▪ general▪ common▪the common explanations for cancer
▪ only, sole▪It's the only explanation that makes any kind of sense.
▪ causal▪The causal explanation must be that old age causes poverty, not that poverty causes people to be old.
▪ ad hoc▪ cultural, historical, political, psychological, scientific, sociological, technical, theoreticalVERB + EXPLANATION▪ have▪I had no explanation for her strange mood.
▪ give (sb), offer (sb), provide (sb with)▪He only offered a partial explanation for his lateness.
▪ go into, launch into▪She launched into a detailed explanation of every aspect of her work.
▪ advance, propose, put forward▪one explanation advanced by Marxist historians
▪ call for, need, require, want▪An explanation is clearly called for.
▪ look for, seek▪ find, think of▪I can think of one possible explanation for her reaction.
▪ ask for, demand▪She wrote to the company demanding an explanation.
▪ wait for▪ deserve, merit▪I suppose you deserve an explanation.
▪ owe sb▪I think you owe me an explanation.
▪ receive▪ accept▪ defy▪Her success has been so remarkable as to defy explanation.
EXPLANATION + VERB▪ lie▪The simplest explanation for his achievements lies in his greater ability and superiority over his contemporaries at college.
▪ emerge, occur to sb▪No single clear explanation emerged from the experiments.
▪A more credible explanation now occurred to her.
▪ exist▪Several possible explanations exist.
▪ suggest sthPREPOSITION▪ in explanation▪‘I've worked with them before, you see,’ he added, in explanation.
▪ without explanation▪She left suddenly and without explanation.
▪ explanation about▪He entered into a technical explanation about software and programming.
▪ explanation as to▪He provided no explanation as to why he was late.
▪ explanation for▪There is probably some perfectly logical explanation for their absence.
▪ explanation from▪We are still waiting for a full explanation from the teacher concerned.
PHRASES▪ an attempt at explanation▪The men left quickly with no attempt at explanation.
▪ by way of explanation▪‘I had to see you,’ he said, by way of explanation.
Collocations dictionary. 2013.
