grok

[ grok ]

verb (used with object)

1. to understand thoroughly and intuitively:

   The code is simple enough that you should be able to grok what it does.

verb (used without object)

1. to communicate sympathetically.

Word History and Origins

Origin of grok¹

Coined by Robert A. Heinlein in the science-fiction novel Stranger in a Strange Land (1961)

Example Sentences

In it "grokking" was to empathise deeply with others.

From BBC

Since fate brought us together in 2012, I’ve been enamored, entranced, obsessed with grokking the city’s essence — not only its vibrant now but its storied Technicolor past.

From Washington Post

While it may be hard to grok those numbers, it’s obvious they were at the very least good enough to convince investors to come together for a Series A round.

From The Verge

The people who immediately grok the title of “The Sparks Brothers” are precisely the audience for this adoring portrait of Ron and Russell Mael, the siblings who formed the titular band Sparks in the 1970s.

From Washington Post

Physicists can’t grok the behavior of a single electron, which is identical to every other electron.

From Scientific American