— excusable , adj. — excusableness , n. — excusably , adv. — excusal , n. — excuseless , adj. — excuser , n. — excusingly , adv. — excusive , adj. — excusively , adv.
v. /ik skyoohz"/ ; n. /ik skyoohs"/ , v. , excused, excusing , n.
v.t.
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.
8. 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.)
n.
9. 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.
10. a ground or reason for excusing or being excused: Ignorance is no excuse.
11. the act of excusing someone or something.
12. a pretext or subterfuge: He uses his poor health as an excuse for evading all responsibility.
13. 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.
[ 1175-1225; (v.) ME escusen escuser excusare to put outside, exonerate, equiv. to ex- EX- 1 + -cusare, deriv. of causa CAUSE; (n.) ME escuse escuser; modern sp. with ex- on the model of EX- 1 ]
Syn. 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. 9. 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. 12. pretense, evasion, makeshift.