by way of explanation
idiom
: as a reason or reasons
The company offered little by way of explanation for the delays.
Examples of by way of explanation in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
The author offers little more than platitudes by way of explanation for the decline of Christianity in the Middle East and fails to properly place the decline in any coherent historical context.
—
Samuel Sweeney, WSJ, 5 Oct. 2021
Kroll told a story by way of explanation.
—New York Times, 3 Dec. 2020
Earlier this year, after Trump used the term in his State of the Union address, Jim Morhard, NASA’s deputy administrator, by way of explanation for the president’s choice of words, tweeted a skewed interpretation of the concept.
—Marina Koren, The Atlantic, 17 Sep. 2020
Samuel Sweeney, WSJ, 5 Oct. 2021
Kroll told a story by way of explanation.
—New York Times, 3 Dec. 2020
Earlier this year, after Trump used the term in his State of the Union address, Jim Morhard, NASA’s deputy administrator, by way of explanation for the president’s choice of words, tweeted a skewed interpretation of the concept.
—Marina Koren, The Atlantic, 17 Sep. 2020
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'by way of explanation.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near by way of explanation
Cite this Entry
“By way of explanation.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/by%20way%20of%20explanation. Accessed 28 Apr. 2024.
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