What does 'try to figure out' mean?

[Estela]

what do "try to figure out" mean?

[Yankee]

Hi Estela

Depending on the rest of the sentence, 'try to figure out' can mean 'attempt to understand' or 'attempt to solve'.

What was the whole sentence?
.

[Torsten]

Hi Estela,

Please note that your question should read what does 'try to figure out' mean?
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Test Of English for International Communication
TOEIC Preparation & TOEIC Vocabulary

[Estela]

MY homework said:Try to figure out what the word means by the way it is used in the selection. And after that I have vocabulary words, beside boxs with correct or not meanings.

[Alan]

Hi Estela,

I believe the exercise you are doing comes under the heading of 'comprehension'. Words can have different meanings. It depends on the sentence they are in. What the test is asking you to do is to try to find which is the best meaning of the word as it is used in the sentence. You must read the sentence carefully and ask yourself what you think the word means in that particular sentence. After you have done that, look at the suggestions they have given you and choose what you think is the nearest in meaning to what you think.

Alan
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English as a Second Language
You can read my ESL story Well, Hello!