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excuse

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noun [countable] American English pronunciation: excuse /ɪkˈskjus/ 
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singularexcuse
pluralexcuses
  1. 1
    a reason that you give to explain why you have done something bad, or why you have not done something that you should have done

    a reasonable/valid/legitimate excuse

    excuse for:

    What excuse did they give for the delay?

    have an excuse:

    Joe was late, but as always he had an excuse.

    make/give an excuse:

    He made some excuse about having a lot of work to do.

    Thesaurus entry for this meaning of  excuseThesaurus entry for this meaning of excuse
  2. 2
    a reason for doing something that you want to do
    excuse for:

    Birthdays are always a good excuse for a party.

    an excuse to do something:

    Emily was glad to have an excuse to change the subject.

    Thesaurus entry for this meaning of  excuseThesaurus entry for this meaning of excuse

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This is the American English definition of excuse. View British English definition of excuse.

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