excuse

excuse
excuse vb Excuse, condone, pardon, forgive, remit are comparable when meaning not to exact punishment or redress for (an offense) or from (an offender). In polite use excuse, pardon, and forgive usually suggest a hope that one is not annoyed. Both excuse and condone imply an overlooking or passing over either without censure or without adequate punishment; distinctively, one may excuse specific acts (as faults, omissions, or neglects) especially in social or conventional obligations or the person committing them
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please excuse my interruption

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the injustice with which he had been treated would have excused him if he had resorted to violent methods of redress— Macaulay

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but one more often condones either a kind of behavior (as dishonesty, folly, or violence) or a course of conduct or an institution especially when constituting a grave breach of the moral code or a violation of law
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we condone everything in this country—private treason, falsehood, flattery, cruelty at home, roguery, and double-dealing— Thackeray

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slavery struck no deep roots in New England soil, perhaps because the nobler half of the New England conscience never condoned it— Repplier

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Pardon (opposed to punish) and forgive (opposed to condemn) are often employed interchangeably, but their implications may be distinct.
One pardons when one frees from the penalty due for an offense or refrains from exacting punishment for it
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pardon ten prisoners at Christmas

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will you pardon my intrusion?

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it became necessary ... to fly for our lives .... We could not look to be pardonedHudson

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and one forgives when one gives up not only all claim to requital or retribution but also all resentment or desire for revenge
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to err is human, to forgive, divinePope

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the wrath ... is past . . . and I, lo, I forgive thee, as Eternal God forgives I— Tennyson

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Remit is a synonym only in the idiomatic phrase to remit sins, in which it means to free from the punishment due for one's sins.
Analogous words: justify, *explain, account, rationalize: acquit, vindicate, *exculpate, absolve, exonerate: *palliate, extenuate, gloze, gloss, whitewash
Antonyms: punish
Contrasted words: censure, reprobate, reprehend, blame, Criticize: chastise, castigate, discipline, chasten, correct (see PUNISH)
excuse n plea, pretext, *apology, apologia, alibi
Analogous words: explanation, justification, rationalization (see corresponding verbs at EXPLAIN): palliation, extenuation, whitewashing, glossing (see corresponding verbs at PALLIATE)

New Dictionary of Synonyms. 2014.

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  • excuse — [ ɛkskyz ] n. f. • fin XIVe; de excuser 1 ♦ Raison alléguée pour se défendre d une accusation, d un reproche, pour expliquer ou atténuer une faute. ⇒ 1. défense, explication, justification, motif, raison. Alléguer, donner, fournir une bonne… …   Encyclopédie Universelle

  • excuse — ex·cuse 1 /ik skyüz/ vb ex·cused, ex·cus·ing vt 1: to grant exemption or release to excused the prospective juror excused the witness after an hour of testimony 2 …   Law dictionary

  • excuse me — An expression used as an apology for any slight or apparent impropriety, esp as a request to pass, leave, interrupt or catch someone s attention or for contradicting a statement that has been made, or (US) when correcting oneself • • • Main Entry …   Useful english dictionary

  • excuse — Excuse. subst. fem. v. Raison que l on apporte pour s excuser. Excuse legitime, bonne, recevable, valable. excuse impertinente, legere, sotte, mauvaise excuse. donner, apporter, alleguer une excuse. mediter, forger une excuse, des excuses. il a… …   Dictionnaire de l'Académie française

  • Excuse — Ex*cuse , v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Excused}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Excusing}.] [OE. escusen, cusen, OF. escuser, excuser, F. excuser, fr. L. excusare; ex out + causa cause, causari to plead. See {Cause}.] 1. To free from accusation, or the imputation of… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Excuse — Ex*cuse , n. [Cf. F. excuse. See {Excuse}, v. t.] 1. The act of excusing, apologizing, exculpating, pardoning, releasing, and the like; acquittal; release; absolution; justification; extenuation. [1913 Webster] Pleading so wisely in excuse of it …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Excuse Me Mr. — Excuse Me Mr. Saltar a navegación, búsqueda «Excuse Me Mr.» Sencillo de No Doubt del álbum Tragic kingdom Publicación 1996 (América) Formato CD Single …   Wikipedia Español

  • excuse — [ek skyo͞oz′, ikskyo͞oz′; ] for n. [, ekskyo͞os′] vt. excused, excusing [ME excusen < OFr escuser & L excusare, to free from a charge < L ex , from + causa, a charge: see CAUSE] 1. to try to free (a person) of blame; seek to exonerate 2. to …   English World dictionary

  • excuse — ► VERB 1) seek or serve to justify (a fault or offence). 2) release from a duty or requirement. 3) forgive (a fault or a person committing one). 4) (used in polite formulas) allow (someone) to leave a room or gathering. 5) (excuse oneself) say… …   English terms dictionary

  • excuse-me — or excuse me dance noun A dance during which one may change partners • • • Main Entry: ↑excuse …   Useful english dictionary

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