solve
verb
ˈsälv 
ˈsȯlv
solved; solving
transitive verb
1
: to find a solution, explanation, or answer for
solve a problem
solved the crime
2
: to pay in full
solve a debt
intransitive verb
: to solve something
substitute and solve for x
solver noun
Synonyms
- answer
- break
- crack
- dope (out)
- figure out
- puzzle (out)
- resolve
- riddle (out)
- unravel
- unriddle
- work
- work out
See all Synonyms & Antonyms 
Example Sentences
They are working to solve the traffic problem. If they'll lend us the money we need, all our problems will be solved. He couldn't solve the math problem. The mystery has been solved. The FBI has been trying to solve the case for years.
Recent Examples on the Web Blade Runner 2049 starred Ryan Gosling as a new robot bounty hunter who had to team up with an older Deckard to solve the mystery of the first replicant child. 
Christian Holub, EW.com, 15 Sep. 2022 From the makers of Danganronpa, Master Detective Archives: Raincode follows a group of detectives that come from all over the world to solve the mystery of a city covered by perpetual rain. Kyle Orland, Ars Technica, 13 Sep. 2022 Thrillers and true crime novels make for fantastic beach reads for those who love to put on their detective hat and try to piece together the clues and solve the mystery before the main character. Elizabeth Berry, Woman's Day, 29 Aug. 2022 Daniel Craig takes a break from James Bond to play a schlubby journalist hired to solve the mystery of a woman’s disappearance 40 years ago, and is aided by young computer hacker Lisbeth Salander (Rooney Mara in a transformative performance). Ben Flanagan | Bflanagan@al.com, al, 28 Aug. 2022 For the last month, Redditors in the Nier: Automata community were trying to solve a mystery. Wired, 31 July 2022 Neither Wittgenstein nor Weil concluded that a worker’s revolt would solve these problems. Robert Zaretsky, WSJ, 3 Sep. 2022 Confronting the why Bernstein is optimistic that companies will solve all the issues that the current workplace is grappling with within five to 10 years. Jane Thier, Fortune, 2 Sep. 2022 Perhaps because policymakers have considered student debt as the burden of upwardly mobile young people, inaction has seemed a reasonable response, as if time itself will solve the problem. Rayna Reid Rayford, Essence, 18 Aug. 2022 See More
Christian Holub, EW.com, 15 Sep. 2022 From the makers of Danganronpa, Master Detective Archives: Raincode follows a group of detectives that come from all over the world to solve the mystery of a city covered by perpetual rain. Kyle Orland, Ars Technica, 13 Sep. 2022 Thrillers and true crime novels make for fantastic beach reads for those who love to put on their detective hat and try to piece together the clues and solve the mystery before the main character. Elizabeth Berry, Woman's Day, 29 Aug. 2022 Daniel Craig takes a break from James Bond to play a schlubby journalist hired to solve the mystery of a woman’s disappearance 40 years ago, and is aided by young computer hacker Lisbeth Salander (Rooney Mara in a transformative performance). Ben Flanagan | Bflanagan@al.com, al, 28 Aug. 2022 For the last month, Redditors in the Nier: Automata community were trying to solve a mystery. Wired, 31 July 2022 Neither Wittgenstein nor Weil concluded that a worker’s revolt would solve these problems. Robert Zaretsky, WSJ, 3 Sep. 2022 Confronting the why Bernstein is optimistic that companies will solve all the issues that the current workplace is grappling with within five to 10 years. Jane Thier, Fortune, 2 Sep. 2022 Perhaps because policymakers have considered student debt as the burden of upwardly mobile young people, inaction has seemed a reasonable response, as if time itself will solve the problem. Rayna Reid Rayford, Essence, 18 Aug. 2022 See More Word History
Etymology
Middle English, to loosen, from Latin solvere to loosen, solve, dissolve, from sed-, se- apart + luere to release — more at secede, lose
First Known Use
circa 1533, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1
Kids Definition
solve
verb
ˈsälv
ˈsȯlv
solved; solving
: to find the answer to or a solution for
Can you solve the riddle?
solved
verb
as in resolved
to find an answer for through reasoning it took me half an hour to solve the logic puzzle Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
- resolved
- answered
- unraveled
- worked
- concluded
- deciphered
- figured out
- worked out
- cracked
- decided
- unriddled
- deduced
- gathered
- guessed
- broke
- wrought
- reasoned
- riddled (out)
- inferred
- judged
- doped (out)
- puzzled (out)
- assumed
- presumed
- untangled
- untied
- ironed out
- conjectured
- speculated
- unscrambled
- divined
- decoded
- cleared (up)
- straightened (out)