Collocations for explanation - noun

convincing, credible, good, likely, logical, natural, obvious, plausible, probable, rational
The most likely explanation is that his plane was delayed.

implausible, inadequate, unlikely
acceptable, adequate, reasonable, satisfactory, sufficient
further
No further explanation is necessary.

no apparent
There was no apparent explanation for the attack.

clear, coherent
complete, comprehensive, detailed, full
partial
complex, complicated
easy, simple
innocent, prosaic
There's sure to be a perfectly innocent explanation for all this—though I admit it looks bizarre.

convenient
accepted, traditional
There is no generally accepted explanation of this practice.

official
possible
alternative
correct, real, true
brief
lengthy, long
verbal
general
common
the common explanations for cancer

only, sole
It's the only explanation that makes any kind of sense.

causal
The causal explanation must be that old age causes poverty, not that poverty causes people to be old.

ad hoc
cultural, historical, political, psychological, scientific, sociological, technical, theoretical

have
I had no explanation for her strange mood.

give (sb), offer (sb), provide (sb with)
He only offered a partial explanation for his lateness.

go into, launch into
She launched into a detailed explanation of every aspect of her work.

advance, propose, put forward
one explanation advanced by Marxist historians

call for, need, require, want
An explanation is clearly called for.

look for, seek
find, think of
I can think of one possible explanation for her reaction.

ask for, demand
She wrote to the company demanding an explanation.

wait for
deserve, merit
I suppose you deserve an explanation.

owe sb
I think you owe me an explanation.

receive
accept
defy
Her success has been so remarkable as to defy explanation.

lie
The simplest explanation for his achievements lies in his greater ability and superiority over his contemporaries at college.

emerge, occur to sb
No single clear explanation emerged from the experiments.
A more credible explanation now occurred to her.

exist
Several possible explanations exist.

suggest sth

in explanation
‘I've worked with them before, you see,’ he added, in explanation.

without explanation
She left suddenly and without explanation.

explanation about
He entered into a technical explanation about software and programming.

explanation as to
He provided no explanation as to why he was late.

explanation for
There is probably some perfectly logical explanation for their absence.

explanation from
We are still waiting for a full explanation from the teacher concerned.

an attempt at explanation
The men left quickly with no attempt at explanation.

by way of explanation
‘I had to see you,’ he said, by way of explanation.