preoccupied with the pursuit of pleasure and especially games of chance; "led a dissipated life"; "a betting man"; "a card-playing son of a bitch"; "a gambling fool"; "sporting gents and their ladies"
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"
a silver-white metallic element of the platinum group that resembles platinum; occurs in some copper and nickel ores; does not tarnish at ordinary temperatures and is used (alloyed with gold) in jewelry