Mitigate; forgive

Usage examples of excuse.

Furious at the cancellation of a tour which had taken a great deal of arranging and represented the first time in eight months of the war that a foreign officer had been able to get accredited to a unit in the field, Stilwell offered every kind of excuse almost to the point of insubordination to avoid going to Lanchow.

The Culture - the real Culture, the wily ones, not these semi-mystical Elenchers with their miserable hankering to be somebody else - had been known to give whole Affronter fleets the run-around for several months with not dissimilar enticements and subterfuges, keeping them occupied, seemingly on the track of some wildly promising prey which turned out to be nothing at all, or a Culture ship with some ridiculous but earnestly argued excuse, while the Culture or one of its snivelling client species got on - or away - with something else somewhere else, spoiling rightful Affronter fun.

Humbert can be excused blindness to the anagrammatic appearance of Vladimir Nabokov pointing at him ironically.

Or were some among that host seeking us, seeking Barish, making an excuse for this Game, Great Game, the Greatest this world had ever seen?

Julia recognized the suggestion for what it was, exquisite politeness designed to give her an excuse to retain her barracan if removing it would embarrass her, and also, a subtle hint that he had no intent to ravish her upon the spot.

That impression, however, he desired to deepen, and whilst Armand was worrying his brain to find a plausible excuse for going away, de Batz was racking his to find one for keeping him here.

The excuse hovered on his lips, de Batz reluctantly was preparing to bid him good-bye, when Celimene, speaking common-place words enough in answer to her quarrelsome lover, caused him to drop the hand which he was holding out to his friend and to turn back towards the stage.

It was a lame excuse for giving in to her beguiling manner, but it served Tyrone well enough for the moment.

KELFORD was back at billiards when Cardona left, but a note delivered by a club attendant gave Weston an excuse to call for him.

Jane had been convinoed that Adam would excuse himself from seeing her and Billie today.

The bluster, the excuses, the accusations, the obscenities, the abuse.

Gerry Brell excused herself and went to see how the preparation of dinner was coming.

After dinner Ap-Llymry made him finish a bottle of mead, which he willingly accepted, both as an excuse to remain and as a drink of the dark ages, which he had no doubt was a genuine brewage from uncorrupted tradition.

None of them had seen Brier in hours, and all found excuses not to talk about her.

If Burk knew that the broncho boys were in town it would be sufficient excuse for him to annoy and impede their movements all he could.