What is "explaining away"

Usage examples of "explaining away".

Why, then, are we to subject ourselves to the necessity of explaining away what we have said when we have given offence by using the word demon, with which every one, or almost every one, connects a bad meaning, while we can so easily evade this necessity by using the word angel?

Given a mass of evidence, we tend to notice the facts that agree with our preferences, while explaining away the inconvenient ones that would tell us otherwise.

That was another method of explaining away intelligence weaknesses.

All her life she had defended Sebastian, arguing that he was normal, covering for him when he did something especially weird, explaining away his lack of interest in conventional learning.

If they encountered any of their former neighbors, they would have a hard time explaining away the existence of Marcalo, supposedly slain by the beast.

That might take some explaining away: besides, Solly was a little tired of Captain Zoom.

The citizen lieutenant wasn't particularly skilled at his official duties, but he attacked them (when anyone was looking, at any rate) with enormous energy, and he'd displayed a facile wit at borrowing other people's work or at least explaining away his own failures.

I, too, felt much more optimistic about my chances, for I had brought off a terrific tour-de-force in reconstruction, and succeeded in explaining away the almost inexplicable.

Denial was on the tip of Stephen's tongue, denial or a rapid though necessarily fallacious explaining away: on the other hand it was exceedingly difficult to lie successfully to so intimate a friend.

On the possibility of explaining away the difference as due to the peculiarities of nervous tissue I have spoken before, but this possibility must not be forgotten if we are tempted to draw unwarranted metaphysical deductions.