explains

Verb

explain (third-person singular simple present explains, present participle explaining, simple past and past participle explained)

1. (transitive) To make plain, manifest, or intelligible; to clear of obscurity; to illustrate the meaning of.
   • The issue was explained to the governor in detail.
2. (transitive) To give the reason for, justification for, or cause of.
   • It is tempting to speculate about the incentives or compulsions that might explain why anyone would take to the skies in [the] basket [of a balloon]: perhaps out of a desire to escape the gravity of this world or to get a preview of the next; […].2013 June 7, David Simpson, “Fantasy of navigation”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 188, number 26, page 36

   Synonyms:

   expound, elaborate, recce, elucidate, bring home, account for

3. (obsolete) To make flat, smooth out.
4. (obsolete) To unfold or make visible.
   • April 14, 1684, John Evelyn, a letter sent to the Royal Society concerning the damage done to his gardens by the preceding winter
     The horse-chestnut is […] ready to explain its leaf.
5. (intransitive) To make something plain or intelligible.
   • She tried to explain but he wouldn’t listen.