#define grok
February 23, 2003
define
From the novel “Stranger in a Strange Land”, by Robert A. Heinlein, where it is a Martian word meaning literally “to drink” and metaphorically “to be one with”. [Source]
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To understand, usually in a global sense. Connotes intimate and exhaustive knowledge. Contrast zen, which is similar supernal understanding experienced as a single brief flash. See also glark.
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Used of programs, may connote merely sufficient understanding. “Almost all C compilers grok the “void” type these days.”