a note explaining an absence; "he had to get his mother to write an excuse for him"
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"
excuse, overlook, or make allowances for; be lenient with; "excuse someone's behavior"; "She condoned her husband's occasional infidelities"
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"
grant exemption or release to; "Please excuse me from this class"
ask for permission to be released from an engagement
accept an excuse for; "Please excuse my dirty hands"
(law) a formal notice filed with a court or officer to suspend a proceeding until filer is given a hearing; "a caveat filed against the probate of a will"
operating with minimal human intervention; independent of external control; "automatic transmission"; "a budget deficit that caused automatic spending cuts"
like the unthinking functioning of a machine; "an automatic `thank you'"; "machinelike efficiency"
without volition or conscious control; "the automatic shrinking of the pupils of the eye in strong light"; "a reflex knee jerk"; "sneezing is reflexive"
a product of your creative thinking and work; "he had little respect for the inspirations of other artists"; "after years of work his brainchild was a tangible reality"
a sudden intuition as part of solving a problem
arousal of the mind to special unusual activity or creativity
sanctioned by or consistent with or operating under a constitution; "the constitutional right of free speech"; "constitutional government"; "constitutional guarantees"
of benefit to or intended to benefit your physical makeup; "constitutional walk"
of or relating to a constitution; "constitutional amendments"
a characteristic likelihood of or natural disposition toward a certain condition or character or effect; "the alkaline inclination of the local waters"; "fabric with a tendency to shrink"
a general direction in which something tends to move; "the shoreward tendency of the current"; "the trend of the stock market"
the spatial property of the position from which something is observed
a mental position from which things are viewed; "we should consider this problem from the viewpoint of the Russians"; "teaching history gave him a special point of view toward current events"