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to excuse
01
to forgive someone for making a mistake, etc.
Transitive: to excuse sb
Examples
Understanding the circumstances, she chose to excuse her colleague for the unintentional oversight.
02
to act as a valid reason or justification for something
Transitive: to excuse an action or shortcoming
Grammatical Information
Composition
Simple
Action verb
Regular
Present tense
excuse
3rd person singular
excuses
Present participle
excusing
Past simple
excused
Past participle
excused
Examples
His illness served to excuse his absence from the meeting.
03
to formally free or exempt someone from an obligation, responsibility, or task
Transitive: to excuse sb from an obligation
Examples
The manager excused him from the meeting because of his conflicting schedule.
04
to try to minimize or remove the blame associated with a wrongdoing by offering an explanation or defense
Transitive: to excuse a wrongdoing
Examples
He tried to excuse his mistake by saying he didn't have enough time to prepare.
05
to pardon or overlook someone's mistake or wrongdoing
Transitive: to excuse a mistake or wrongdoing
Examples
The teacher excused the student's late arrival because of the traffic.
06
to grant permission for someone to leave or exit a room, meeting, or event
Transitive: to excuse sb
Examples
The professor excused the student from the lecture when he had to leave early.
Excuse
01
a reason given to explain one's careless, offensive, or wrong behavior or action
Grammatical Information
Animacy status
Abstract
Composition
Compound
Countable
Plural form
excuses
Examples
He made an excuse for being late to the meeting, claiming that traffic was heavy.
02
something considered a poor or inadequate example of its kind
Examples
That old shed is an excuse for a garage.
Lexical Tree
excusatory
excused
excuser
excuse
