Word.ws English Dictionary

gives someone to understand

gives someone to understand is the third-person singular simple present indicative of give someone to understand.

Meaning of give someone to understand

Verb

give someone to understand (third-person singular simple present gives someone to understand, present participle giving someone to understand, simple past gave someone to understand, past participle given someone to understand)

  1. (idiomatic, chiefly passive voice) To tell someone, especially indirectly; to insinuate.
    • Hadn't she explained and described and even—though lightly, of course; she couldn't say such a thing directly—given him to understand that this was the one unforgivable thing.1920, Katherine Mansfield [pseudonym; Kathleen Mansfield Murry], “Revelations”, in Bliss and Other Stories, London: Constable & Company, published 1920, →OCLC, page 264

Questions about gives someone to understand

What is gives someone to understand the third-person singular simple present indicative of?
Gives someone to understand is the third-person singular simple present indicative of give someone to understand.

Words near gives someone to understand in the dictionary

  1. gives someone the shits
  2. gives someone the slip
  3. gives someone the time
  4. gives someone their cards
  5. gives someone their flowers
  6. gives someone to understand
  7. gives someone what for
  8. gives someone what-for
  9. gives someone wood
  10. gives something a go
  11. gives something a miss

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: gives someone to understand (page history and authors); give someone to understand (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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