Word
solve
US/ˈsɑɫv/
UK/sˈɒlv/
Definitions
01to find an answer
v. to find the correct answer to a problem, a puzzle, or a difficult situation.
v. to find a solution to a problem, puzzle, or difficult situation through reasoning or investigation.
“It took me nearly an hour to solve the crossword puzzle in the newspaper.”
“The engineering team worked through the night to solve the technical glitch that had halted production for three days.”
Usage
Transitive verb taking a direct object representing the problem or puzzle.
Antonyms
02to explain a mystery
v. to find out who committed a crime or why something mysterious happened.
v. to discover the perpetrator, motive, or explanation for a crime or mystery.
“The police finally solved the case after finding new evidence in the basement.”
“Detectives spent months reviewing forensic data before they could finally solve the mystery of the missing inheritance.”
Usage
Commonly collocates with 'crime', 'mystery', 'case', or 'murder'.
03mathematics
v. to find the value of a number in a math problem.
v. to find the values of variables that satisfy a system of equations or inequalities.
“You need to solve for x to find the length of the triangle's side.”
“Students were asked to solve the quadratic equation using both the formula and the completing-the-square method.”
Technical
Usage
Often used with the preposition 'for' when identifying a specific variable.
Etymology
From Middle English solven, from Latin solvō.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Collocations
Word family
Domains
Scan code
englishreference.com/q/solve