giving 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