excuse
(redirected from excusing)Also found in: Thesaurus, Legal, Idioms.
ex·cuse
(ĭk-skyo͞oz′)excuse
ex•cuse
(v. ɪkˈskyuz; n. -ˈskyus)v. -cused, -cus•ing,
n. v.t.
excuse
Excuse can be a noun or a verb. When it is a noun, it is pronounced /ɪk'skjuːs/. When it is a verb, it is pronounced /ɪk'skjuːz/.
An excuse is a reason that you give in order to explain why something has been done, has not been done, or will not be done.
You say that someone makes an excuse.
Be Careful!
Don't say that someone 'says an excuse'.
If someone is excused from doing something, they are officially allowed not to do it.
In conversation, if you say you must excuse yourself or if you ask someone to excuse you, you are saying politely that you must leave.
If you excuse someone for something wrong they have done, you decide not to criticize them or be angry with them.
Forgive is used in a similar way. However, when you say that you forgive someone, you usually mean that you have already been angry with them or argued with them. You cannot use 'excuse' in this way.
People often say Excuse me as a way of politely apologizing for something they are going to do. For example, you can say Excuse me when you are interrupting someone, when you want to get their attention, or when you want to get past them.
However, when people say they are sorry for something they have done, don't say that they 'excuse themselves'. You say that they apologize. If you want to say that you are sorry for something you have done, you say Sorry, I'm sorry, or I apologize.
excuse
Past participle: excused
Gerund: excusing
Imperative |
---|
excuse |
excuse |
Noun | 1. | excuse - 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" vindication, defense, defence - the justification for some act or belief; "he offered a persuasive defense of the theory" extenuation, mitigation - a partial excuse to mitigate censure; an attempt to represent an offense as less serious than it appears by showing mitigating circumstances |
2. | excuse - a note explaining an absence; "he had to get his mother to write an excuse for him" | |
3. | excuse - a poor example; "it was an apology for a meal"; "a poor excuse for an automobile" example, instance, illustration, representative - an item of information that is typical of a class or group; "this patient provides a typical example of the syndrome"; "there is an example on page 10" | |
Verb | 1. | excuse - accept an excuse for; "Please excuse my dirty hands" forgive - stop blaming or grant forgiveness; "I forgave him his infidelity"; "She cannot forgive him for forgetting her birthday" |
2. | excuse - grant exemption or release to; "Please excuse me from this class" frank - exempt by means of an official pass or letter, as from customs or other checks | |
3. | excuse - 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" alibi - exonerate by means of an alibi | |
4. | excuse - defend, explain, clear away, or make excuses for by reasoning; "rationalize the child's seemingly crazy behavior"; "he rationalized his lack of success" plead - offer as an excuse or plea; "She was pleading insanity" | |
5. | excuse - ask for permission to be released from an engagement | |
6. | excuse - excuse, overlook, or make allowances for; be lenient with; "excuse someone's behavior"; "She condoned her husband's occasional infidelities" forgive - stop blaming or grant forgiveness; "I forgave him his infidelity"; "She cannot forgive him for forgetting her birthday" |
excuse
justification charge, accusation, indictment, imputation
justify accuse, blame, correct, condemn, punish, compel, oblige, criticize, censure, hold responsible, chastise, chasten, point a or the finger at
free charge, sentence, convict, indict, arraign
"And oftentimes excusing of a fault"
"Doth make the fault the worser by th'excuse" [William Shakespeare King John]
"Several excuses are always less convincing than one" [Aldous Huxley Point Counter Point]
"A real failure does not need an excuse. It is an end in itself" [Gertrude Stein Four in America]
excuse
verbexcuse
there's no excuse for this → esto no admite disculpa
it's only an excuse → es un pretexto nada más
on the excuse that → con el pretexto de que ...
to make excuses for sb → presentar disculpas por algn
he's only making excuses → está buscando pretextos
he made his excuses and left → presentó sus excusas y se marchó
he gives poverty as his excuse → alega su pobreza
what's your excuse this time? → ¿qué excusa or disculpa me das esta vez?
to excuse sb sth → perdonar algo a algn
excuse me! (asking a favour) → por favor, perdón; (interrupting sb) → perdóneme; (when passing) → perdón, con permiso; (= sorry) → ¡perdón!; (on leaving table) → ¡con permiso!
excuse me? (US) → ¿perdone?, ¿mande? (Mex)
now, if you will excuse me → con permiso ...
if you will excuse me I must go → con permiso de ustedes tengo que marcharme
may I be excused for a moment? → ¿puedo salir un momento?
that does not excuse his conduct → eso no justifica su conducta
to excuse o.s. (for sth/for doing sth) → pedir disculpas (por algo/por haber hecho algo)
to excuse o.s. (from sth/from doing sth) → dispensarse (de algo/de hacer algo)
after ten minutes he excused himself → después de diez minutos pidió permiso y se fue
to ask to be excused → pedir permiso
I must ask to be excused this time → esta vez les ruego que me dispensen or disculpen
excuse
[ɪkˈskjuːs]an excuse to do sth → une excuse pour faire qch
an excuse not to do sth → une excuse pour ne pas faire qch
There's no excuse for such behaviour → Un tel comportement est inexcusable.
to make an excuse → trouver une excuse
to make excuses for sb → trouver des excuses à qn
to excuse sb for sth → excuser qn pour qch
to excuse sb for doing sth (in present, future) → excuser qn de faire qch; (in past) → excuser qn d'avoir fait qch
excuse me! → excusez-moi!, pardon!
excuse me please (in crowd) → excusez-moi, s'il vous plaît
Excuse me, can I squeeze past please? → Excusez-moi, est-ce que je peux passer, s'il vous plaît?
excuse me? (US) (= what did you say?) → pardon?
now if you will excuse me, ... → maintenant, si vous (le) permettez ...
to be excused from doing sth → être dispensé(e) de faire qch
to excuse o.s. for sth → s'excuser de qch
to excuse o.s. for doing sth (in past) → s'excuser d'avoir fait qchex-directory [ˌɛksdaɪˈrɛktəri] adj (British) ex-directory number → numéro m sur la liste rouge
to be ex-directory → être sur liste rouge
She's ex-directory → Elle est sur liste rouge.
to go ex-directory → se mettre sur liste rouge
excuse
excuse
[n ɪksˈkjuːs; vb ɪksˈkjuːz]there's no excuse for this → non ci sono scuse or scusanti per questo
on the excuse that ... → con la scusa or il pretesto che...
to make excuses for sb → trovare giustificazioni per qn
excuse me! → mi scusi!
now, if you will excuse me ... → ora mi scusi ma...
excuse me? (Am) → come (dice), scusi?
to excuse o.s. (from sth/from doing sth) → farsi esonerare or dispensare (da qc/dal fare qc)
to ask to be excused → chiedere di essere scusato/a