excuse in English dictionary

  • excuse

    Meanings and definitions of "excuse"

    • (transitive) To forgive; to pardon.
    • (transitive) To allow to leave.
    • (transitive) To provide an excuse for; to explain, with the aim of alleviating guilt or negative judgement.
    • An explanation designed to avoid or alleviate guilt or negative judgment.
    • noun
      (countable, uncountable)
      Explanation designed to avoid or alleviate guilt or negative judgment.
    • noun
      (law)
      A defense to a criminal or civil charge wherein the accused party admits to doing acts for which legal consequences would normally be appropriate, but asserts that special circumstances relieve that party of culpability for having done those acts.
    • noun
      (with negative adjective prepositioned, especially sorry
      or poor) An example.
    • verb
      (transitive)
      To forgive; to pardon.
    • verb
      (transitive)
      To allow to leave.
    • verb
      (transitive)
      To provide an excuse for; to explain, with the aim of alleviating guilt or negative judgement.
    • verb
      To relieve of an imputation by apology or defense; to make apology for as not seriously evil; to ask pardon or indulgence for.
    • To stop blaming someone for an offense.
    • forgive, pardon
    • allow to leave
    • explain with the aim of alleviating guilt or negative judgement
    • explanation designed to avoid or alleviate guilt or negative judgement
    • pretense (pretence)
    • one’s words or remarks
    • noun
      a defense of some offensive behavior or some failure to keep a promise etc.; "he kept finding excuses to stay"; "every day he had a new alibi for not getting a job"; "his transparent self-justification was unacceptable"
    • noun
      a note explaining an absence; "he had to get his mother to write an excuse for him"
    • noun
      a poor example; "it was an apology for a meal"; "a poor excuse for an automobile"
    • verb
      accept an excuse for; "Please excuse my dirty hands"
    • verb
      ask for permission to be released from an engagement
    • verb
      defend, explain, clear away, or make excuses for by reasoning; "rationalize the child's seemingly crazy behavior"; "he rationalized his lack of success"
    • verb
      excuse, overlook, or make allowances for; be lenient with; "excuse someone's behavior"; "She condoned her husband's occasional infidelities"
    • verb
      grant exemption or release to; "Please excuse me from this class"
    • verb
      serve as a reason or cause or justification of; "Your need to sleep late does not excuse your late arrival at work"; "Her recent divorce may explain her reluctance to date again"

    Synonyms of "excuse" in English dictionary

    explain, support, exempt are the top synonyms of "excuse" in the English thesaurus.

    Grammar and declension of excuse

    • excuse ( plural  excuses)
    • excuse ( third-person singular simple present excuses, present participle excusing, simple past and past participle excused)
    • excuse (countable and uncountable, plural excuses)
    • excuse (third-person singular simple present excuses, present participle excusing, simple past and past participle excused)
  • Excuse

Sample sentences with "excuse"

Available translations

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