Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English - excuse

~1 v 1 excuse me spoken a) used when you want to get someone's attention politely, especially when you want to ask a question  (Excuse me, can you tell me the way to the museum please?) b) used to say that you are sorry for doing something rude or embarrassing  (Oh, excuse me. I didn't know anyone was in here.) c) used to ask someone politely to move so that you can walk past  (Excuse me, could I just squeeze past you?) d) used when you want to politely tell someone that you are leaving a place  (Excuse me a moment, Mr Jonson. I'll be right back.) e) used when you disagree with someone but want to be polite about it  (Excuse me, but I don't think that's what he meant at all.) f) AmE used to say you are sorry when you hit someone accidentally, make a small mistake etc  (Oh, excuse me, did I spell your name wrong?) g) especially AmE used to ask someone to repeat something that they have just said  ("What time is it?" "Excuse me?" "I asked you what time it is.") 2 to forgive someone for doing something that is not seriously wrong, such as being rude or careless  (I'll excuse you this time, but try and be prompt in the future. | Please excuse my bad handwriting. | excuse sb for (doing) sth)  (I cannot excuse them for treating their animals so badly.) 3 to allow someone not to do something that they are supposed to do  (Ball was excused guard duty that night. | excuse sb from (doing) sth)  (Can I be excused from swimming today? I have a cold.) 4 to give reasons for someone's careless or offensive behaviour in order to make it seem more acceptable  (Nothing can excuse that kind of rudeness. | sb can be excused for doing sth (=used to say that you understand why someone has done something and think they should not be blamed for it))  (His poetry means a lot to him, so perhaps he can be excused for neglecting his work in order to write.) 5 to give someone permission to leave a place  (May I please be excused from the table? | excuse yourself)  (Richard politely excused himself, claiming he had too much work to do.) 6 excuse me for living! spoken used when someone has offended you or told you that you have done something wrong  ( USAGE NOTE: EXCUSE WORD CHOICE excuse me, I'm sorry, I beg your pardon, pardon me In British English, you say (I'm) sorry to a person if you accidentally touch them, or push against them, or get in their way (for example, if you step on someone's foot). You might also hear the rather old-fashioned expression I beg your pardon. In American English you say Excuse me or Pardon me. ) ~2 n 1 a reason that you give to explain careless or offensive behaviour + for  (What's your excuse for being late this time?) there is no excuse for sth  (There is no excuse for such rudeness. | make an excuse)  (Fay's always making excuses for his erratic moods. | have an excuse)  (I'm sure Mike has a good excuse for not repaying the money.) 2 a false reason that you give to explain why you are doing something or not doing something  (excuse to do sth)  (She wanted an excuse to be at the bus stop when Billy got off.) + for  (The conference is an excellent excuse for a few days' holiday by the sea.) find/have an excuse  (Now at last I had an excuse to call him. | make an excuse)  (I made an excuse at the first possible moment, and got up to leave. | give sb an excuse)  (The arrival of the doctor gave them an excuse to leave.) 3 make your excuses to explain why you are not able to do something  (Please make my excuses at the meeting tomorrow. I have an appointment with an important client.) 4 a poor/rotten etc excuse for sth used when you think someone is very bad at something they are doing or at their job  (Derico is a rotten excuse for a lawyer, why on earth did you hire him?) 5 AmE a note written by your doctor or one of your parents saying that you were ill on a particular day; sick note BrE  ( USAGE NOTE: EXCUSE WORD CHOICE reason, explanation, excuse, pretext If you call something a reason, either you believe it, or you are just repeating what someone else has said; His reason for being late was that his car broke down (=either you know the car did break down which made him late, or that was simply the reason he gave you). If you call something an explanation, you are just repeating what someone else has said His explanation for being late was that his car broke down (= that was the reason he gave - it may or may not be true). An explanation often sounds more like a personal opinion, a reason more like a fact. If you call something an excuse it suggests that you may not believe it is true or, if it is true, you do not believe that it really explains what happened His excuse for being late was that his car broke down (=perhaps the car broke down, or perhaps it did not OR you think it did break down, but that is not really a good enough reason for being late). If you say My excuse is.... you are giving a reason that you know is not really good enough to explain what you did. If you call something a pretext, you definitely do not think that it is true or the real reason His pretext for being late was that his car broke down (=you do not believe it broke down OR it did, but you know there was another reason why he was really late). )