excuse

[ex·cuse]

An excuse is an explanation for something that went wrong. When we give an excuse, we're trying to get someone to cut us some slack.

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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.

Noun
a poor example; "it was an apology for a meal"; "a poor excuse for an automobile"

Noun
a note explaining an absence; "he had to get his mother to write an excuse for him"

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"

Verb
excuse, overlook, or make allowances for; be lenient with; "excuse someone''s behavior"; "She condoned her husband''s occasional infidelities"

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 amy explain her reluctance to date again"

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Verb
grant exemption or release to; "Please excuse me from this class"

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
accept an excuse for; "Please excuse my dirty hands"

v. t.
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.

v. t.
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.

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

v. t.
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.

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

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

v. t.
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.

v. t.
That which excuses; that which extenuates or justifies a fault.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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?

Syn. -- To vindicate; exculpate; absolve; acquit. - 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.

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.

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.

Syn. -- See Apology.

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.

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Usage Examples

Cynical realism is the intelligent man's best excuse for doing nothing in an intolerable situation.

An excuse becomes an obstacle in your journey to success when it is made in place of your best effort or when it is used as the object of the blame.

A Boss in Heaven is the best excuse for a boss on earth, therefore If God did exist, he would have to be abolished.

Having yet another vote on refinery legislation that uses high oil prices as an excuse to weaken environmental protections and to give more legislative gifts to the oil industry is misguided in the extreme.

Destiny: A tyrant's authority for crime and a fool's excuse for failure.

Faith is the great cop-out, the great excuse to evade the need to think and evaluate evidence. Faith is belief in spite of, even perhaps because of, the lack of evidence.

Democrats want to use the slowdown as an excuse to do what their special interests are always begging for: higher taxes, bigger government and less trade with other nations.

Difficulty is the excuse history never accepts.

Misspelled Form

excuse, wexcuse, 3excuse, 4excuse, rexcuse, sexcuse, dexcuse, wxcuse, 3xcuse, 4xcuse, rxcuse, sxcuse, dxcuse, ewxcuse, e3xcuse, e4xcuse, erxcuse, esxcuse, edxcuse, ezxcuse, esxcuse, edxcuse, ecxcuse, ezcuse, escuse, edcuse, eccuse, exzcuse, exscuse, exdcuse, exccuse, exxcuse, exdcuse, exfcuse, exvcuse, ex cuse, exxuse, exduse, exfuse, exvuse, ex use, excxuse, excduse, excfuse, excvuse, exc use, excyuse, exc7use, exc8use, exciuse, excjuse, excyse, exc7se, exc8se, excise, excjse, excuyse, excu7se, excu8se, excuise, excujse, excuase, excuwse, excuese, excudse, excuxse, excuzse, excuae, excuwe, excuee, excude, excuxe, excuze, excusae, excuswe, excusee, excusde, excusxe, excusze, excuswe, excus3e, excus4e, excusre, excusse, excusde, excusw, excus3, excus4, excusr, excuss, excusd, excusew, excuse3, excuse4, excuser, excuses, excused.

Other Usage Examples

Hold yourself responsible for a higher standard than anybody expects of you. Never excuse yourself.

Give me six lines written by the most honorable of men, and I will find an excuse in them to hang him.

I think there's no excuse for the American poetry reader not knowing a good deal about what is going on in the rest of the world.

Companies, to date, have often used the excuse that they are only beholden to their shareholders, but we need shareholders to think of themselves as stakeholders in the well being of society as well.

I attribute my success to this - I never gave or took any excuse.

Born again?! No, I'm not. Excuse me for getting it right the first time.

A state of war only serves as an excuse for domestic tyranny.

I use filming as an excuse to take classes. I got my certification in sailing for 'Wedding Crashers,' and now I can handle a 26-foot boat. I played a seamstress once, so I took sewing classes. I love dipping into these other lives.

Being a woman is of special interest only to aspiring male transsexuals. To actual women, it is simply a good excuse not to play football.