COMPREHEND | English meaning - Cambridge Dictionary
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English (UK)

Meaning of comprehend in English

comprehend
verb [ I or T, not continuous ]
  formal
uk
/ˌkɒm.prɪˈhend/ us
/ˌkɑːm.prəˈhend/
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to understand something completely:
I fail to comprehend their attitude.
He doesn't seem to comprehend the scale of the problem
[ + question word ] I'll never comprehend why she did what she did.
[ + that ] I don't think he fully comprehends that she won't be here to help him.
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.
See more results »
SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases
Understanding and comprehending
See more results »
(Definition of comprehend from the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary & Thesaurus © Cambridge University Press)

comprehend | American Dictionary

comprehend
verb [ T ]
us
/ˌkɑm·prəˈhend/
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to understand something completely:
If you don’t comprehend something, don’t be afraid to seem dumb, just speak out.

comprehensible

adjective us
/ˌkɑm·prəˈhen·sə·bəl/
The directions were written in clear, comprehensible English.
(Definition of comprehend from the Cambridge Academic Content Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)

Examples of comprehend

comprehend
But there are no quick-fixes: to comprehend its significance requires us to consider psychological, cultural, and political/social and economic factors.
From the Cambridge English Corpus
Clearly it is very difficult to imagine and adequately comprehend other ways of understanding the world using our own language and concepts.
From the Cambridge English Corpus
We also need to comprehend the historical debates.
From the Cambridge English Corpus
This was demonstrated by the inability of the country's political leadership to comprehend the rapid regrouping of political forces.
From the Cambridge English Corpus
Almost half the children responded in "spectacular fashion" presenting with unusual motivation to work, and an enhanced ability to read, comprehend, and do arithmetic.
From the Cambridge English Corpus
I learned to comprehend the museum itself as an artistic and indirectly political ensemble in a complex historical and economic setting.
From the Cambridge English Corpus
A certain facial athleticism is required to project oneself so as to be comprehended at a great distance.
From the Cambridge English Corpus
Therefore, the reader should be able to comprehend the examples in this paper without understanding these features in detail.
From the Cambridge English Corpus
Only then can we comprehend them more fully as products of social change.
From the Cambridge English Corpus
This means that the difference between conditions lies in children's comprehension of pronouns, and further that reflexives are comprehended similarly regardless of condition.
From the Cambridge English Corpus
Similarly, the instrumental and vocal teachers articulated unease about comprehending children and supervising groups.
From the Cambridge English Corpus
These modifications can affect how a text is processed, comprehended, and understood.
From the Cambridge English Corpus
The second step is to comprehend what matters by better understanding the full range of values at work.
From the Cambridge English Corpus
Additionally, they aren't ready to comprehend being circumscribed or restricted.
From the Cambridge English Corpus
Only when she hears his 'sincere' voice used frivolously can she comprehend that she was deceived.
From the Cambridge English Corpus
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 comprehend?
 

Translations of comprehend

in Chinese (Traditional)
充分理解, 領悟…
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in Chinese (Simplified)
充分理解, 领悟…
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in Spanish
comprender…
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in Portuguese
compreender…
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in more languages
in Japanese
in Turkish
in French
in Catalan
in Dutch
in Danish
in Swedish
in Malay
in German
in Norwegian
in Ukrainian
in Russian
in Arabic
in Czech
in Indonesian
in Thai
in Vietnamese
in Polish
in Korean
in Italian
～を理解する, 理解（りかい）する…
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anlamak, kavramak, içermek…
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comprendre, saisir…
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comprendre…
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bevatten…
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forstå, fatte, omfatte…
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fatta, begripa, inbegripa…
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memahami, merangkumi…
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begreifen, einschließen…
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begripe, forstå, fatte…
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розуміти, збагнути, охоплювати…
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понимать…
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يَفهَم…
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chápat, obsahovat, zahrnovat…
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mengerti, mencakup…
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ทำให้เข้าใจ, รวมถึง…
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hiểu, bao gồm…
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pojmować, rozumieć, zawierać…
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이해하다…
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comprendere…
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compounded annual rate of return
compounded growth rate
compounded rate
compounding
comprehend
comprehended
comprehensibility
comprehensible
comprehensibly

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seismic

UK
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relating to or caused by an earthquake

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