Understand crossword clue

The most likely answers for the crossword clue “Understand” are IMAGE, FANCY or INFER, with 5 letters. Below are 28 answers from 4 to 10 letters, best match first in each length, then what each top answer means and how to tell them apart.

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The best answers, explained

READ 4 letters · verb

make sense of a language “Can you read Greek?”

IMAGE 5 letters · noun

an iconic mental representation “her imagination forced images upon her too awful to contemplate”

FIGURE 6 letters · verb

understand “He didn't figure her”

PROJECT 7 letters · verb

communicate vividly “He projected his feelings”

ENVISION 8 letters · verb

imagine; conceive of; see in one's mind

TRANSLATE 9 letters · verb

make sense of a language

SYMPATHIZE 10 letters · verb

be understanding of

Telling them apart

With 5 squares, IMAGE, FANCY and INFER all fit. The second letter tells them all apart: M → IMAGE · A → FANCY · N → INFER. Fill in that crossing answer first.

With 6 squares, FIGURE, ANSWER, BOTTOM, TUMBLE and FATHOM all fit. The second letter tells them all apart: I → FIGURE · N → ANSWER · O → BOTTOM · U → TUMBLE · A → FATHOM. Fill in that crossing answer first.

With 7 squares, PROJECT, PICTURE, REALIZE, REALISE and RESOLVE all fit. The sixth letter tells them all apart: C → PROJECT · R → PICTURE · Z → REALIZE · S → REALISE · V → RESOLVE. Fill in that crossing answer first.

Other forms of this clue

Clues often use another form of the word, and the answer then takes the same form: “understanding” wants an answer that ends the same way.

What “understand” means

• verb: know and comprehend the nature or meaning of (“She did not understand her husband”)
• verb: perceive (an idea or situation) mentally (“I don't understand the idea”)
• verb: make sense of a language (“She understands French”)
• verb: believe to be the case (“I understand you have no previous experience?”)

A clue usually points at one of these senses, so the right answer is the one that matches the sense the puzzle means: check it against the crossing words.

About these answers

We match the clue against our own thesaurus and dictionary (Open English WordNet): words that mean the same as UNDERSTAND, and words whose definition is UNDERSTAND. We don't copy answers from newspaper puzzles, so a clue that leans on trivia or wordplay may need the crossing letters instead.