grok

/grok/, /grohk/ (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")

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."

This article is provided by FOLDOC - Free Online Dictionary of Computing (foldoc.org)

grok

To have a thorough understanding of a subject. The word comes from Robert Heinlein's "Stranger in a Strange Land," and it means "to drink" in Martian. Of course. But more specifically in the book, it meant to take something in so thoroughly that it becomes part of you.

Grokking the GIMP

GIMP is a sophisticated paint and image editing program (see GIMP), and this book title means "Thoroughly Learn GIMP." (Image courtesy of New Riders Publishing, www.newriders.com)

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References in periodicals archive

I have failed to understand a piece of writing many times before, but this consultation was the first time I couldn't even grok it.

Tutors' Column: "I Don't Grok You: When Unfamiliar Subjects Can't Be Translated"

But Grok's neighbor, Pike, became gravely concerned about Grok's innovation.

A parable for Thomas Piketty

This word, grok, coined by speculative fiction writer Robert A.

Do words have inherent meaning?

Thomas is an associate professor in the Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering and director of the GROK (Graphical Representation of Knowledge) Laboratory at the University of Iowa.

Augmented, pulsating tactile feedback facilitates simulator training of clinical breast examinations

One of the most amazing examples is Grokker--the name is derived from the Robert Heinlein science fiction novel term "grok" that means to understand through intimate and exhaustive knowledge--originally a fee-based desktop tool that was recently released in a free Web-based version.

Odvard Egil Dyrli on visual search tools: Grokker and related tools are transforming online research

"We have become like a trade show for the consumer and the trade," Horowitz continued, pointing to high-end Grok, Vibia and Leucos displays.

LIGHTING BY GREGORY REINVENTS ITSELF

Faced with a B- or a C or a D at the bottom of an exam or paper, the student always had a choice: continue without fundamentally changing his habits of mind, his sense of his potential as a learner, or seek to understand why his work was still unsatisfactory and strive to grok what that eccentric professor was trying to get across.

Summa cum avaritia: plucking a profit from the groves of academe. (Miscellany)

(San Francisco, CA) and the former editor of International Data Group's now-closed Media Grok magazine, has begun the publication of Media Unspun, an electronic newsletter designed to cover the media business.

Foermer staff of "Media Grok" launches online newsletter

The electronic newsletter Media Unspun is coming from the same folks who produced Media Grok, a now-defunct spin-off of the equally defunct Industry Standard, both published by Standard Media International.

"Cheap PR Stunt," sterling editorial team, and a little cash mark launch of ambitious e-newsletter

What does it mean to discover that our genome is a "dynamic and vibrant ecosystem?" To answer that question, to grok our DNA, we need to go back in evolution to complex systems evolved by archeobacteria billions of years ago, when they alone held title to Earth.

A Message to Us, From Our Genome