Associations to the word «Excuse»

Wiktionary

EXCUSE, verb. (transitive) To forgive; to pardon.
EXCUSE, verb. (transitive) To allow to leave.
EXCUSE, verb. (transitive) To provide an excuse for; to explain, with the aim of alleviating guilt or negative judgement.
EXCUSE, verb. To relieve of an imputation by apology or defense; to make apology for as not seriously evil; to ask pardon or indulgence for.
EXCUSE, noun. An explanation designed to avoid or alleviate guilt or negative judgment.
EXCUSE, noun. (legal) A defense to a criminal or civil charge wherein the accused party admits to doing acts for which legal consequences would normally be appropriate, but asserts that special circumstances relieve that party of culpability for having done those acts.
EXCUSE, noun. (with negative adjective prepositioned, especially sorry or poor) An example.
EXCUSE ME, noun. An old fashioned type of dance where partners constantly changed.
EXCUSE MY FRENCH, verb. Alternative form of pardon my French

Dictionary definition

EXCUSE, 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".
EXCUSE, noun. A note explaining an absence; "he had to get his mother to write an excuse for him".
EXCUSE, noun. A poor example; "it was an apology for a meal"; "a poor excuse for an automobile".
EXCUSE, verb. Accept an excuse for; "Please excuse my dirty hands".
EXCUSE, verb. Grant exemption or release to; "Please excuse me from this class".
EXCUSE, 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 may explain her reluctance to date again".
EXCUSE, verb. Defend, explain, clear away, or make excuses for by reasoning; "rationalize the child's seemingly crazy behavior"; "he rationalized his lack of success".
EXCUSE, verb. Ask for permission to be released from an engagement.
EXCUSE, verb. Excuse, overlook, or make allowances for; be lenient with; "excuse someone's behavior"; "She condoned her husband's occasional infidelities".

Wise words

In the End, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.
Martin Luther King, Jr.