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grok
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grok /grok/, var. /grohk/ /vt./ [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'] The emphatic form is `grok in
fullness'. 1. 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. 2. Used of programs, may connote merely
sufficient understanding. "Almost all C compilers grok the
`void' type these days."
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