to have (to give) an excuse for

  • 1Ida B. Wells-Barnett: Lynching and the Excuse for It (1901) — ▪ Primary Source       In the twenty years after 1885 there were more lynchings in the United States than legal executions. The great majority of victims were African Americans, who, after a brief period of political power in the South during… …

    Universalium

  • 2excuse — {{Roman}}I.{{/Roman}} noun 1 reason given ADJECTIVE ▪ perfect, wonderful ▪ excellent, good, great, legitimate, valid ▪ convincing …

    Collocations dictionary

  • 3give — 1 verb past tense gavepast participle given PROVIDE/SUPPLY 1 (T) to provide or supply someone with something: give sb sth: Researchers were given a 10,000 grant to continue their work. | Can you give me a ride to the office on Tuesday? | He went… …

    Longman dictionary of contemporary English

  • 4excuse yourself — phrase to politely say that you are going to leave a place excuse yourself from: She excused herself from the table and went back to work. Thesaurus: to give a reason or excuse for somethingsynonym Main entry: excuse * * * excuse yourself …

    Useful english dictionary

  • 5have something to say for yourself — have something/a lot/nothing/etc to say for yourself phrase to be fairly/​very/​not at all keen to talk, especially about yourself and your reasons for doing something He didn’t have a lot to say for himself. She’s always got far too much to say… …

    Useful english dictionary

  • 6have nothing to say for yourself — have something/a lot/nothing/etc to say for yourself phrase to be fairly/​very/​not at all keen to talk, especially about yourself and your reasons for doing something He didn’t have a lot to say for himself. She’s always got far too much to say… …

    Useful english dictionary

  • 7excuse — ex|cuse1 [ ık skjuz ] verb transitive ** 1. ) to forgive someone for something bad they have done, especially something that is not very serious: Please excuse my messy handwriting. excuse someone for (doing) something: I hope you ll excuse us… …

    Usage of the words and phrases in modern English

  • 8excuse — 1 verb (T) 1 excuse me spoken a) used when you want to get someone s attention politely, especially when you want to ask a question: Excuse me, can you tell me the way to the museum please? b) used to say that you are sorry for doing something… …

    Longman dictionary of contemporary English

  • 9excuse */*/ — I UK [ɪkˈskjuːs] / US [ɪkˈskjus] noun [countable] Word forms excuse : singular excuse plural excuses 1) a reason that you give to explain why you have done something bad, or why you have not done something that you should have done a… …

    English dictionary

  • 10excuse — ex|cuse1 S2 [ıkˈskju:z] v [T] ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬ 1 excuse me 2¦(forgive)¦ 3¦(from a duty)¦ 4¦(explain)¦ 5¦(from a place)¦ 6 excuse yourself 7 excuse me (for living)! ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬ [Date: 1400 1500; : Old French; Origin: excuser, from …

    Dictionary of contemporary English