"excuses" in the noun sense
1. excuse, alibi, exculpation, self-justification
a defense of some offensive behavior or some failure to keep a promise etc.
"he kept finding excuses to stay"
"every day he had a new alibi for not getting a job"
"his transparent self-justification was unacceptable"
2. excuse
a note explaining an absence
"he had to get his mother to write an excuse for him"
3. apology, excuse
a poor example
"it was an apology for a meal"
"a poor excuse for an automobile"
"excuses" in the verb sense
1. excuse, pardon
accept an excuse for
"Please excuse my dirty hands"
2. excuse, relieve, let off, exempt
grant exemption or release to
"Please excuse me from this class"
3. excuse, explain
serve as a reason or cause or justification of
"Your need to sleep late does not excuse your late arrival at work"
"Her recent divorce may explain her reluctance to date again"
4. apologize, apologise, excuse, rationalize, rationalise
defend, explain, clear away, or make excuses for by reasoning
"rationalize the child's seemingly crazy behavior"
"he rationalized his lack of success"
5. excuse, beg off
ask for permission to be released from an engagement
6. excuse, condone
excuse, overlook, or make allowances for be lenient with
"excuse someone's behavior"
"She condoned her husband's occasional infidelities"
Source: WordNet® (An amazing lexical database of English)
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