Sentence:  Even Rector himself was prey to this spirit of competition and he <WSD>knew</WSD> it , not for a more exalted office in the hierarchy of the church - his ambitions for the bishopry had died very early in his career - but for the one clear victory he had talked about to the colonel . 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  be aware of the truth of something; have a belief or faith in something; regard as true beyond any doubt