excuse
verb/ɪkˈskjuːz/
/ɪkˈskjuːz/
Verb Forms
Idioms | present simple I / you / we / they excuse | /ɪkˈskjuːz/ /ɪkˈskjuːz/ |
| he / she / it excuses | /ɪkˈskjuːzɪz/ /ɪkˈskjuːzɪz/ |
| past simple excused | /ɪkˈskjuːzd/ /ɪkˈskjuːzd/ |
| past participle excused | /ɪkˈskjuːzd/ /ɪkˈskjuːzd/ |
| -ing form excusing | /ɪkˈskjuːzɪŋ/ /ɪkˈskjuːzɪŋ/ |
- to forgive somebody for something that they have done, for example not being polite or making a small mistake
- excuse something Please excuse the mess.
- excuse somebody You must excuse my father—he's not always that rude.
- excuse somebody for something She had been excused for her actions.
- excuse somebody for doing something I hope you'll excuse me for being so late.
- (British English) You might be excused for thinking that Ben is in charge (= he is not, but it is an easy mistake to make).
- excuse somebody doing something Excuse me interrupting you.
- (formal) Excuse my interrupting you.
- If you'll excuse me pointing this out, I think you've made a mistake here.
- to make your or somebody else’s behaviour seem less offensive by finding reasons for it synonym justify
- excuse something Nothing can excuse such rudeness.
- excuse something as something He tried to excuse his behaviour as ‘a bit of harmless fun’.
- excuse somebody/yourself I could try to excuse myself, but why bother?
- excuse somebody/yourself for something Should her previous good actions excuse her for the terrible things she is doing now?
- excuse somebody/yourself for doing something He excused himself for being late by explaining that his flight had been delayed.
Extra Examples- I know she had a traumatic experience, but that doesn't excuse her.
- That did not excuse him for not carrying on with the matter.
- She makes no attempt to excuse herself for her deeds.
- excuse somebody/yourself (from something) to allow somebody to leave; to say in a polite way that you are leaving
- Now if you'll excuse me, I'm a very busy man.
- She excused herself and left the meeting early.
- [usually passive] to allow somebody to not do something that they should normally do
- be excused (from something/from doing something) She was excused from giving evidence because of her age.
- be excused something He was excused military service because of poor health.
Word OriginMiddle English: from Old French escuser (verb), from Latin excusare ‘to free from blame’, from ex- ‘out’ + causa ‘accusation, cause’.
Idioms
See excuse in the Oxford Advanced American DictionarySee excuse in the Oxford Learner's Dictionary of Academic Englishexcuse/pardon my French
- (informal) used to say that you are sorry for swearing
excuse me
- used to politely get somebody’s attention, especially somebody you do not know
- Excuse me, is this the way to the station?
- used to politely ask somebody to move so that you can get past them
- Excuse me, could you let me through?
- used to say that you are sorry for interrupting somebody or behaving in a slightly rude way
- Guy sneezed loudly. ‘Excuse me,’ he said.
- used to disagree politely with somebody
- Excuse me, but I don't think that's true.
- used to politely tell somebody that you are going to leave or talk to somebody else
- ‘Excuse me for a moment,’ she said and left the room.
- (especially North American English) used to say sorry for pushing somebody or doing something wrong
- Oh, excuse me. I didn't see you there.
- excuse me?(North American English) used when you did not hear what somebody said and you want them to repeat it
Check pronunciation:
excuse