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A lightweight JavaScript package for English word definitions and collections.
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{
"term": "excuse",
"partOfSpeech": "noun",
"ox3000": true,
"cefr": "b2",
"definitions": [
{
"senseNumber": 1,
"definition": "a reason, either true or invented, that you give to explain or defend your behaviour",
"sensetop": "excuse for somethingexcuse for doing something",
"cefr": "b2",
"ox3000": true,
"examples": [
{
"text": "Late again! What's your excuse this time?"
},
{
"text": "I tried desperately to think of a **good excuse**."
},
{
"text": "a lame/feeble/poor/flimsy excuse"
},
{
"text": "a reasonable/valid excuse"
},
{
"text": "I know I missed the deadline, but I **have an excuse**."
},
{
"text": "There's **no excuse for** such behaviour.",
"contextForm": "excuse for something"
},
{
"text": "His excuse for forgetting her birthday was that he had lost his diary.",
"contextForm": "excuse for doing something"
},
{
"text": "You don't have to **make excuses** for her *(= try to think of reasons for her behaviour)*."
},
{
"text": "It's late. I'm afraid I'll have to **make my excuses** *(= say I'm sorry, give my reasons and leave)*."
},
{
"text": "I don't want to hear any more excuses."
},
{
"text": "Justin mumbled some excuse and left."
},
{
"text": "What possible excuse could he have?"
},
{
"text": "She became moody and unreasonable, lashing out at the slightest excuse."
},
{
"text": "He had no excuse for being so late."
},
{
"text": "Don't let perfectionism become an excuse for never getting started."
},
{
"text": "He's run out of excuses for not cleaning his room."
},
{
"text": "She made some feeble excuse about the car having broken down."
},
{
"text": "I seized on every excuse to avoid doing the work."
}
],
"collocations": {
"adjective": ["perfect", "wonderful", "excellent"],
"verb + excuse": ["have", "give", "make"],
"preposition": ["excuse about", "excuse for"],
"phrases": ["there is no excuse for…"]
}
},
{
"senseNumber": 2,
"definition": "a good reason that you give for doing something that you want to do for other reasons",
"sensetop": "excuse for somethingexcuse for doing somethingexcuse to do something",
"cefr": "b2",
"ox3000": true,
"examples": [
{
"text": "Eating ice cream for a sore throat isn't really a cure, but I like it, so **any excuse**!"
},
{
"text": "It's just an excuse for a party.",
"contextForm": "excuse for something"
},
{
"text": "Any occasion is a **good excuse** for having a barbecue.",
"contextForm": "excuse for doing something"
},
{
"text": "It gave me an excuse to take the car.",
"contextForm": "excuse to do something"
},
{
"text": "He tried unsuccessfully to find an excuse to leave."
},
{
"text": "The demonstration was **used as an excuse** to impose martial law."
},
{
"text": "She had to find a valid excuse for leaving the room."
},
{
"text": "The children provided a convenient excuse for missing the party."
},
{
"text": "Her mother's illness provided her with an excuse to stay at home."
},
{
"text": "The political crisis is being used as an excuse to dock people's pay."
}
],
"collocations": {
"adjective": ["perfect", "wonderful", "excellent"],
"verb + excuse": ["have", "give", "make"],
"preposition": ["excuse about", "excuse for"],
"phrases": ["there is no excuse for…"]
}
},
{
"senseNumber": 3,
"definition": "a very bad example of something",
"examples": [
{
"text": "Why get involved with that pathetic excuse for a human being?"
},
{
"text": "a sorry excuse for a man"
},
{
"text": "She's a pitiful excuse for an actress."
}
],
"collocations": {
"adjective": ["lousy", "miserable", "pathetic"],
"preposition": ["excuse for"]
}
},
{
"senseNumber": 4,
"definition": "a note written by a parent or doctor to explain why a student cannot go to school or somebody cannot go to work",
"labels": "(North American English)",
"examples": []
}
],
"pronunciations": {
"uk": [
{
"pronunciation": "/ɪkˈskjuːs/",
"audio": "ex/excuse/excuse__gb_1.mp3"
}
],
"us": [
{
"pronunciation": "/ɪkˈskjuːs/",
"audio": "ex/excuse/excuse__us_1.mp3"
}
]
},
"wordOrigin": "Middle English: from Old French escuser (verb), from Latin excusare ‘to free from blame’, from ex- ‘out’ + causa ‘accusation, cause’."
}