explain away
[verb]
Synonyms: explain, account, justify, rationalize

[TahlilGaran] English Synonym Dictionary ▲

explain something ↔ away phrasal verb (see also explain)
to make something seem less important or bad by giving reasons for it:
The difference in the treatment they receive is hard to explain away.

[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Contemporary English ▲

explain away
explain away (something)
to invent reasons why something is unimportant.
You will find it hard to explain away all these mistakes.

Rather than face the truth, we try to explain it away.

[TahlilGaran] English Idioms Dictionary ▲

explain away something
explain away (something)
to invent reasons why something is unimportant.
You will find it hard to explain away all these mistakes.

Rather than face the truth, we try to explain it away.

[TahlilGaran] English Idioms Dictionary ▲

explain away
to explain something so that it seems less important
The sales clerk tried to explain away the problem with the sales receipt.

[TahlilGaran] English Idioms Dictionary ▲

explain something away
to explain something so that it seems less important
The sales clerk tried to explain away the problem with the sales receipt.

[TahlilGaran] English Idioms Dictionary ▲

explain away
v. To explain (something) so that it does not seem true or important.
John explained away his unfinished homework by showing the teacher his broken arm in a cast.
It is hard to explain away Abraham Lincoln's dream about being dead, which he had a few days before he was shot.
The man could not explain away the gun and the marked money from the bank robbery that the police found in his car.

[TahlilGaran] English Idioms Dictionary ▲