deeply absorbed in thought; "as distant and bemused as a professor listening to the prattling of his freshman class"; "lost in thought"; "a preoccupied frown"
not subject to the control of the will; "involuntary manslaughter"; "involuntary servitude"; "an involuntary shudder"; "It (becoming a hero) was involuntary. They sank my boat"- John F.Kennedy
controlled by the autonomic nervous system; without conscious control; "involuntary muscles"; "gave an involuntary start"
reduced in efficacy or vitality or intensity; "our shriveled receipts during the storm"; "as the project wore on she found her enthusiasm shriveled"; "the dollar's shrunken buying power"
lean and wrinkled by shrinkage as from age or illness; "the old woman's shriveled skin"; "he looked shriveled and ill"; "a shrunken old man"; "a lanky scarecrow of a man with withered face and lantern jaws"-W.F.Starkie; "he did well despite his withered arm"; "a wizened little man with frizzy grey hair"
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"
line thrown from a vessel that people can cling to in order to save themselves from drowning
line that raises or lowers a deep-sea diver
support that enables people to survive or to continue doing something (often by providing an essential connection); "the airlift provided a lifeline for Berlin"; "she offered me a lifeline in my time of grief"