alibi
noun/ˈæləbaɪ/
/ˈæləbaɪ/
- evidence that proves that a person was in another place at the time of a crime and so could not have committed it
- The suspects all had alibis for the day of the robbery.
Extra ExamplesTopics Crime and punishmentc1- She was in the office all of Wednesday and so has a cast-iron alibi.
- The accused was not able to provide an alibi for the evening.
- They relied on witnesses to establish alibis for the accused.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective- cast-iron
- good
- ironclad
- …
- have
- establish
- provide
- …
- alibi for
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- an excuse for something that you have done wrong
Word Originlate 17th cent. (as an adverb in the sense ‘elsewhere’): from Latin, ‘elsewhere’. The noun use dates from the late 18th cent.
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alibi