excuse

views updated Jun 11 2018

ex·cuse • v. / ikˈskyoōz/ [tr.] 1. attempt to lessen the blame attaching to (a fault or offense); seek to defend or justify: he did nothing to hide or excuse Jacob's cruelty. ∎  forgive (someone) for a fault or offense: you must excuse my sister. ∎  overlook or forgive (a fault or offense): sit down—excuse the mess. ∎  (of a fact or circumstance) serve in mitigation of (a person or act): his ability excuses most of his faults.2. release (someone) from a duty or requirement: it will not be possible to excuse you from jury duty. ∎  (used in polite formulas) allow (someone) to leave a room or gathering: now, if you'll excuse us, we have to be getting along. ∎  (excuse oneself) say politely that one is leaving. ∎  (be excused) (used esp. by school pupils) be allowed to leave the room, esp. to go to the bathroom: please, can I be excused?• n. / ikˈskyoōs/ 1. a reason or explanation put forward to defend or justify a fault or offense: there can be no possible excuse for any further delay. ∎  a reason put forward to conceal the real reason for an action; a pretext: they use their hunting as an excuse to get away from their wives.2. (an excuse for) inf. a poor or inadequate example of: that pathetic excuse for a man!PHRASES: excuse me said politely in various contexts, for example when attempting to get someone's attention, asking someone to move, or interrupting or disagreeing with a speaker. ∎  said when asking someone to repeat what they have just said.make one's excuses say politely that one is leaving or cannot be present.DERIVATIVES: ex·cus·a·ble / -zəbəl/ adj.ex·cus·a·bly / -zəblē/ adv.ex·cus·a·to·ry / -zəˌtôrē/ adj.

excuse

views updated Jun 11 2018

excuse offer an apology for XIII; obtain exemption or release for; accept as an excuse for or from XIV; serve as an excuse for XVI. ME escuse, excuse — OF. escuser, (also mod.) excuser — L. excusāre free from blame, plead in excuse, absolve, dispense with, f. EX-1 + causa accusation (see CAUSE).
So sb. XIV. — (O)F., f. excuser. The pronunc. with s instead of z in the sb. is due to the analogy of pairs like use, abuse vbs. and sbs., advise and advice, where the F. sbs. are masculines ending in s.

excuse

views updated May 11 2018

excuse he who excuses, accuses himself often used to mean that attempts to excuse oneself show a guilty conscience. The saying is recorded in English from the early 17th century, but is found earlier in Latin as ‘dum excusare credis, accusas [while you believe you excuse, you accuse].’

See also a bad excuse is better than none, ignorance of the law is no excuse for breaking it.

Excuse

views updated May 17 2018

EXCUSE

The explanation for the performance or nonperformance of a particular act; a reason alleged in court as a basis for exemption or relief from guilt.

An excuse is essentially a defense for an individual's conduct that is intended to mitigate the individual's blameworthiness for a particular act or to explain why the individual acted in a specific manner. A driver sued for negligence, for example, might raise the defense of excuse if the driver was rushing an injured person to a hospital, or if some unforeseen illness or mechanical failure made safe operation of the vehicle impossible.