excuse */*/

I UK [ɪkˈskjuːs] / US [ɪkˈskjus] noun [countable]
Word forms "excuse":
singular excuse plural excuses

1) a reason that you give to explain why you have done something bad, or why you have not done something that you should have done

a reasonable/valid/legitimate excuse

excuse for:

What excuse did they give for the delay?

have an excuse:

Joe was late, but as always he had an excuse.

make/give an excuse:

He made some excuse about having a lot of work to do.

2) a reason for doing something that you want to do

excuse for:

Birthdays are always a good excuse for a party.

an excuse to do something:

Emily was glad of an excuse to change the subject.

•

a pathetic/poor/sad excuse for something — informal someone or something that is of very bad quality

We have a failing economy and a pathetic excuse for a President.

- make your excuses

- there is no excuse for something

II UK [ɪkˈskjuːz] / US [ɪkˈskjuz] verb [transitive]
Word forms "excuse":
present tense I/you/we/they excuse he/she/it excuses present participle excusing past tense excused past participle excused

1) to forgive someone for something bad that they have done, especially something that is not very serious

Please excuse my untidy handwriting.

excuse someone for (doing) something:

I hope you'll excuse us for leaving so early.

2) to provide a reason or explanation for something bad that someone has done, in order to make it seem less bad

I know he's over 70, but that doesn't excuse his sexist attitudes.

3)

a) [often passive] to give someone permission not to do something that they usually have to do

excuse someone from (doing) something:

You're excused from doing the washing-up tonight.

b) to give someone permission to leave

Now if you'll excuse us, we have to get going.

•

- excuse the expression

- excuse me

- excuse my ignorance

- excuse yourself