read between the lines
To perceive or detect an obscure or unexpressed meaning

[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Contemporary English ▲

read between the lines
to find a hidden meaning in something said or written.
The report doesn't criticize the research directly, but you can read between the lines that the review committee wasn't impressed.

Usage notes: sometimes used without the verb:
Leo read Melodie's letter again, hoping for some hidden message between the lines.

[TahlilGaran] English Idioms Dictionary ▲

read between the lines
to find a hidden meaning in something; to understand the meaning of something by guessing what is not said
I can read between the lines and I know what my friend was trying to say.

The salesman did not say that no products were available but we could read between the lines and knew that there were none.

[TahlilGaran] English Idioms Dictionary ▲

read between the lines
v. phr. To understand all of a writer's meaning by guessing at what he has left unsaid.
Some kinds of poetry make you read between the lines.
A clever foreign correspondent can often avoid censorship by careful wording, leaving his audience to read between the lines.

[TahlilGaran] English Idioms Dictionary ▲