pardon
verb/ˈpɑːdn/
/ˈpɑːrdn/
not usually used in the progressive tensesVerb Forms
Idioms | present simple I / you / we / they pardon | /ˈpɑːdn/ /ˈpɑːrdn/ |
| he / she / it pardons | /ˈpɑːdnz/ /ˈpɑːrdnz/ |
| past simple pardoned | /ˈpɑːdnd/ /ˈpɑːrdnd/ |
| past participle pardoned | /ˈpɑːdnd/ /ˈpɑːrdnd/ |
| -ing form pardoning | /ˈpɑːdnɪŋ/ /ˈpɑːrdnɪŋ/ |
- pardon somebody to officially allow somebody who has been found guilty of a crime to leave prison and/or avoid punishment
- She was pardoned after serving ten years of a life sentence.
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- to forgive somebody for something they have said or done (used in many expressions when you want to be polite) synonym excuse
- pardon something Pardon my ignorance, but what is a ‘duplex’?
- The place was, if you'll pardon the expression, a dump.
- You could be pardoned for thinking (= it is easy to understand why people think) that education is not the government's priority.
- Pardon me for interrupting you.
- pardon somebody/sb's doing something Pardon my asking, but is that your husband?
Word OriginMiddle English: from Old French pardun (noun), pardoner (verb), from medieval Latin perdonare ‘concede, remit’, from per- ‘completely’ + donare ‘give’.
Idioms
See pardon in the Oxford Advanced American Dictionaryexcuse/pardon my French
- (informal) used to say that you are sorry for swearing
pardon me (informal)
- (especially North American English) used to ask somebody to repeat something because you did not hear it or do not understand it
- used by some people to say ‘sorry’ when they have done something wrong or made a rude noise by accident see also I beg your pardon
pardon me for doing something
- used to show that you are upset or offended by the way that somebody has spoken to you
- ‘Oh, just shut up!’ ‘Well, pardon me for breathing!’
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pardon