MEANING
To work out what is happening by connecting separate pieces of information.
Use it for
describing a conclusion drawn from clues; showing someone connecting previously separate facts; explaining how a hidden situation becomes apparent; distinguishing deduction from being told directlyNames recognizing a connection between clues, without treating the resulting inference as infallible. Writing functions: Inference / Recognition. Semantic categories (by meaning): Inference / Recognition. Contexts: General conversation; Creative prose.
Words that belong together
- finally put two and two together
- put two and two together and realize
On the page
The missing suitcase and the empty wardrobe helped her put two and two together.
He put two and two together when both invitations arrived in the same handwriting.
Word forms
- Base
- put two and two together
Usage notes
Verbal idiom: put/puts/put/put/putting two and two together. Keep both instances of two. Register: informal. Commonness: common (qualitative editorial estimate, informed by dictionaries/corpus).
Practice this word in a sentenceYour margin notes
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