<p><strong>Verb (used with object)</strong></p><ul><li>to regard or judge with forgiveness or indulgence; pardon or forgive; overlook (a fault, error, etc.): Excuse his bad manners.</li><li>to offer an apology for; seek to remove the blame of: He excused his absence by saying that he was ill.</li><li>to serve as an apology or justification for; justify: Ignorance of the law excuses no one.</li><li>Synonyms: palliate, extenuate</li><li>to release from an obligation or duty: to be excused from jury duty.</li><li>Synonyms: free</li><li>to seek or obtain exemption or release for (oneself): to excuse oneself from a meeting.</li><li>to refrain from exacting; remit; dispense with: to excuse a debt.</li><li>to allow (someone) to leave: If you'll excuse me, I have to make a telephone call.</li></ul><p><strong>Noun</strong></p><ul><li>an explanation offered as a reason for being excused; a plea offered in extenuation of a fault or for release from an obligation, promise, etc.: His excuse for being late was unacceptable.</li><li>Synonyms: justification</li><li>a ground or reason for excusing or being excused: Ignorance is no excuse.</li><li>the act of excusing someone or something.</li><li>a pretext or subterfuge: He uses his poor health as an excuse for evading all responsibility.</li><li>Synonyms: makeshift, evasion, pretense</li><li>an inferior or inadequate specimen of something specified: That coward is barely an excuse for a man. Her latest effort is a poor excuse for a novel.</li></ul>