excuses

1. 1
   noun

   Plural of excuse.

   The manager had heard every one of these excuses before.

   After a string of flimsy excuses, no one believed his story.

   Note

   Only the countable uses of the noun have a plural. Excuses can be separate pleas offered for a fault, or, in law, defenses that admit the act but deny the blame. The uncountable use, as in there is no excuse for it, stays singular. The plural also covers poor specimens, as in sorry excuses for a meal. The same spelling serves the present-tense verb, as in nothing excuses it.

2. 2
   verb

   Third-person singular simple present indicative of excuse.

   The policy excuses tardiness only when severe weather is involved.

   Nothing excuses such a careless mistake on a final exam.

   Note

   The present-tense form used with he, she, it or a singular noun, and it always takes an object. The object tells you which meaning is in play. With a person as the object it usually means letting someone off, as in the coach excuses her from practice. With a fault or failing as the object it means pardoning or justifying it, as in nothing excuses that.

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