Excuse I Excused ɪkˈskjuːz Politely Rude Hope Late

• please excuse the mess.
• you must excuse my father—he's not always that rude.
• i hope you'll excuse me for being so late.
• you might be excused for thinking that ben is in charge (= he is not, but it is an easy mistake to make).

excuse

1. to forgive somebody for something that they have done, for example not being polite or making a small mistake
• Please excuse the mess.
• You must excuse my father—he's not always that rude.
• I hope you'll excuse me for being so late.
• You might be excused for thinking that Ben is in charge (= he is not, but it is an easy mistake to make).
• Excuse my interrupting you.
2. to make your or somebody else’s behaviour seem less offensive by finding reasons for it
• synonym justify
  https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/justify
• Nothing can excuse such rudeness.
3. to allow somebody to leave; to say in a polite way that you are leaving
• Now if you'll excuse me, I'm a very busy man.
• She excused herself and left the meeting early.
4. to allow somebody to not do something that they should normally do
• She was excused from giving evidence because of her age.
5. used to politely get somebody’s attention, especially somebody you do not know
• Excuse me, is this the way to the station?
6. used to politely ask somebody to move so that you can get past them
• Excuse me, could you let me through?
7. used to say that you are sorry for interrupting somebody or behaving in a slightly rude way
• Guy sneezed loudly. ‘Excuse me,’ he said.
8. used to disagree politely with somebody
• Excuse me, but I don't think that's true.
9. used to politely tell somebody that you are going to leave or talk to somebody else
• ‘Excuse me for a moment,’ she said and left the room.
10. used to say sorry for pushing somebody or doing something wrong
• Oh, excuse me. I didn't see you there.
11. used when you did not hear what somebody said and you want them to repeat it
12. used to say that you are sorry for swearing

Extra Examples

• He tried to excuse his behaviour as ‘a bit of harmless fun’.
• I asked her to excuse me for my late arrival.
• You’ll have to excuse Harriet—she’s having a difficult time at work.
• I hope you’ll excuse me for being so late.
• You might be excused for thinking that Victoria is in charge.
• You’ll have to excuse my father—he’s not always that rude.

Verb Forms

• present simple I / you / we / they excuse
• he / she / it excuses
• past simple excused
• past participle excused
• -ing form excusing

Word Origin

• Middle English: from Old French escuser (verb), from Latin excusare ‘to free from blame’, from ex- ‘out’ + causa ‘accusation, cause’.