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excuse - 7 dictionary results

ex⋅cuse

  [v. ik-skyooz; n. ik-skyoos] verb, -cused, -cus⋅ing, noun
Use excuse in a Sentence
–verb (used with object)
1. to regard or judge with forgiveness or indulgence; pardon or forgive; overlook (a fault, error, etc.): Excuse his bad manners.
2. to offer an apology for; seek to remove the blame of: He excused his absence by saying that he was ill.
3. to serve as an apology or justification for; justify: Ignorance of the law excuses no one.
4. to release from an obligation or duty: to be excused from jury duty.
5. to seek or obtain exemption or release for (oneself): to excuse oneself from a meeting.
6. to refrain from exacting; remit; dispense with: to excuse a debt.
7. to allow (someone) to leave: If you'll excuse me, I have to make a telephone call.
–noun
8. an explanation offered as a reason for being excused; a plea offered in extenuation of a fault or for release from an obligation, promise, etc.: His excuse for being late was unacceptable.
9. a ground or reason for excusing or being excused: Ignorance is no excuse.
10. the act of excusing someone or something.
11. a pretext or subterfuge: He uses his poor health as an excuse for evading all responsibility.
12. an inferior or inadequate specimen of something specified: That coward is barely an excuse for a man. Her latest effort is a poor excuse for a novel.
—Idiom
13. Excuse me, (used as a polite expression, as when addressing a stranger, when interrupting or disagreeing with someone, or to request repetition of what has just been said.)
Origin:
1175–1225; (v.) ME escusen < OF escuser < L excūsāre to put outside, exonerate, equiv. to ex- ex- 1 + -cūsāre, deriv. of causa cause; (n.) ME escuse < OF, deriv. of escuser; modern sp. with ex- on the model of ex- 1

Related forms:
ex⋅cus⋅a⋅ble, adjective
ex⋅cus⋅a⋅ble⋅ness, noun
ex⋅cus⋅a⋅bly, adverb
ex⋅cus⋅al, noun
ex⋅cuse⋅less, adjective
ex⋅cus⋅er, noun
ex⋅cus⋅ing⋅ly, adverb
ex⋅cus⋅ive, adjective
ex⋅cus⋅ive⋅ly, adverb

Synonyms:
1. Excuse, forgive, pardon imply being lenient or giving up the wish to punish. Excuse means to overlook some (usually) slight offense: to excuse bad manners. Forgive is applied to excusing more serious offenses: to forgive and forget. Pardon usually applies to a specific act of lenience or mercy by an official or superior: The governor was asked to pardon the condemned criminal. 3. extenuate, palliate. 4. free. 8. justification. Excuse, apology both imply an explanation of some failure or failing. Excuse implies a desire to avoid punishment or rebuke. Apology usually implies acknowledgment that one has been in the wrong. 11. pretense, evasion, makeshift.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To excuse
ex·cuse   (ĭk-skyōōz')   
tr.v.   ex·cused, ex·cus·ing, ex·cus·es
    1. To explain (a fault or an offense) in the hope of being forgiven or understood: He arrived late and excused his tardiness in a flimsy manner.
    2. To apologize for (oneself) for an act that could cause offense: She excused herself for being late.
    3. To grant pardon to; forgive: We quickly excused the latecomer.
    4. To make allowance for; overlook: Readers must excuse the author's youth and inexperience. See Synonyms at forgive.
    1. To grant pardon to; forgive: We quickly excused the latecomer.
    2. To make allowance for; overlook: Readers must excuse the author's youth and inexperience. See Synonyms at forgive.
  3. To serve as justification for: Brilliance does not excuse bad manners.
  4. To free, as from an obligation or duty; exempt: In my state, physicians and lawyers are excused from jury duty.
  5. To give permission to leave; release: The child ate quickly and asked to be excused.
n.   (ĭk-skyōōs')
  1. An explanation offered to justify or obtain forgiveness.
  2. A reason or grounds for excusing: Ignorance is no excuse for breaking the law.
  3. The act of excusing.
  4. A note explaining an absence.
  5. Informal An inferior example: a poor excuse for a poet; a sorry excuse for a car.

[Middle English excusen, from Old French excuser, from Latin excūsāre : ex-, ex- + causa, accusation; see cause.]
ex·cus'a·ble adj., ex·cus'a·ble·ness n., ex·cus'a·bly adv., ex·cus'er n.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Excuse

Ex*cuse"\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Excused; p. pr. & vb. n. Excusing.] [OE. escusen, cusen, OF. escuser, excuser, F. excuser, fr. L. excusare; ex out + causa cause, causari to plead. See Cause.]

1. To free from accusation, or the imputation of fault or blame; to clear from guilt; to release from a charge; to justify by extenuating a fault; to exculpate; to absolve; to acquit.

A man's persuasion that a thing is duty, will not excuse him from guilt in practicing it, if really and indeed it be against Gog's law. --Abp. Sharp.

2. To pardon, as a fault; to forgive entirely, or to admit to be little censurable, and to overlook; as, we excuse irregular conduct, when extraordinary circumstances appear to justify it.

I must excuse what can not be amended. --Shak.

3. To regard with indulgence; to view leniently or to overlook; to pardon.

And in our own (excuse some courtly stains.) No whiter page than Addison remains. --Pope.

4. To free from an impending obligation or duty; hence, to disengage; to dispense with; to release by favor; also, to remit by favor; not to exact; as, to excuse a forfeiture.

I pray thee have me excused. --xiv. 19.

5. To relieve of an imputation by apology or defense; to make apology for as not seriously evil; to ask pardon or indulgence for.

Think ye that we excuse ourselves to you? --2 Cor. xii. 19.

Syn: To vindicate; exculpate; absolve; acquit.

Usage: - To Pardon, Excuse, Forgive. A superior pardons as an act of mercy or generosity; either a superior or an equal excuses. A crime, great fault, or a grave offence, as one against law or morals, may be pardoned; a small fault, such as a failure in social or conventional obligations, slight omissions or neglects may be excused. Forgive relates to offenses against one's self, and punishment foregone; as, to forgive injuries or one who has injured us; to pardon grave offenses, crimes, and criminals; to excuse an act of forgetfulness, an unintentional offense. Pardon is also a word of courtesy employed in the sense of excuse.

Excuse

Ex*cuse"\, n. [Cf. F. excuse. See Excuse, v. t.]

1. The act of excusing, apologizing, exculpating, pardoning, releasing, and the like; acquittal; release; absolution; justification; extenuation.

Pleading so wisely in excuse of it. --Shak.

2. That which is offered as a reason for being excused; a plea offered in extenuation of a fault or irregular deportment; apology; as, an excuse for neglect of duty; excuses for delay of payment.

Hence with denial vain and coy excuse. --Milton.

3. That which excuses; that which extenuates or justifies a fault. "It hath the excuse of youth." --Shak.

If eyes were made for seeing. Then beauty is its own excuse for being. --Emerson.

Syn: See Apology.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Language Translation for : excuse
Spanish: perdonar, excusar,
German: entschuldigen,
Japanese: 許す
More Translations »

excuse  (v.)
c.1225, "to clear (someone) from blame," from O.Fr. escuser, from L. excusare "release from a charge," from ex- "out, away" + causa "accusation, legal action" (see cause). Meaning "to obtain exemption or release" is from 1340; that of "to accept another's plea of excuse" is from c.1325. The noun sense of "that which is offered as a reason for being excused" is recorded from c.1500. Excuse me as a mild apology or statement of polite disagreement is from 1606.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Main Entry: ex·cuse
Pronunciation: ik-'skyüz
Function: verb
Inflected Forms: ex·cused; ex·cus·ing
transitive verb 1 : to grant exemption or release to <excused the prospective juror> <excused the witness after an hour of testimony>
2 : JUSTIFY intransitive verb : to serve as an excuse or justification excuse —J. J. White and Railroad S. Summers>

Main Entry: ex·cuse
Pronunciation: ik-'skyüs
Function: noun
1 : EXCUSAL
2 a : a circumstance that allows for release under the law from an obligation, duty, or contractual liability —compare ACT OF GOD, FORCE MAJEURE, FORTUITOUS EVENT, IMPOSSIBILITY OF PERFORMANCE b : a circumstance (as a physical threat) that grants immunity for otherwise tortious or criminal conduct —compare JUSTIFICATION, PRIVILEGE
Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of Law, © 1996 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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