cause, reason, excuse

名詞 excuse:

1. a defense of some offensive behavior or some failure to keep a promise etc.
   同義詞：alibi, exculpation, self-justification
2. a note explaining an absence
3. a poor example
   同義詞：apology

動詞 excuse:

1. accept an excuse for
   同義詞：pardon
2. grant exemption or release to
   同義詞：relieve, let off, exempt
3. serve as a reason or cause or justification of
   同義詞：explain
4. defend, explain, clear away, or make excuses for by reasoning
   同義詞：apologize, apologise, justify, rationalize, rationalise
5. ask for permission to be released from an engagement
   同義詞：beg off
6. excuse, overlook, or make allowances for; be lenient with
   同義詞：condone

1. Excuse me, can I get past, please?
   勞駕，能讓我過去嗎？
2. Excuse me, but I must say you are completely wrong.
   對不起，但是我必須說你完全錯了。
3. His excuse for being late was that he had missed the train.
   他遲到的理由是沒有趕上火車。
4. Please excuse my bad handwriting.
   請原諒我的字寫得不好。

ex.cuse

v.tr.（及物動詞）
ex.cused,ex.cus.ing,ex.cus.es

To explain (a fault or an offense) in the hope of being forgiven or understood:
辯解，托詞：希望被原諒或理解而解釋（過失或冒犯）：
例句：
He arrived late and excused his tardiness in a flimsy manner.
他來晚了，而且還以薄弱的借口來辯解他的遲到

To seek to remove the blame from:
要求原諒：試圖免于被…責備：
例句：
She excused herself for being late.
她為她的遲到辯解

To grant pardon to; forgive:
寬??；原諒：
例句：
We quickly excused the latecomer.
我們很快原諒了遲到者

To make allowance for; overlook:
許可；寬容：
例句：
Readers must excuse the author`s youth and inexperience.See Synonyms at forgive
讀者必須寬恕作者的年輕和缺乏經(jīng)驗參見 forgive

To serve as justification for:
證明為正當?shù)模?/br>例句：
Brilliance does not excuse bad manners.
才華不能成為無禮行為的正當理由

To free, as from an obligation or duty; exempt:
免除責任：使免除責任或義務；免除：
例句：
In my state, physicians and lawyers are excused from jury duty.
在我看來，醫(yī)生和律師都應免除當陪審團的義務

To give permission to leave; release:
準許離開；放開：
例句：
The child ate quickly and asked to be excused.
那孩子吃得很快并請求準許離開

n.（名詞）

An explanation offered to justify or obtain forgiveness.
理由；藉口：為…提供理由或為獲得諒解而做的解釋
A reason or grounds for excusing:
開脫的原因或根據(jù)：
例句：
Ignorance is no excuse for breaking the law.
無知不能成為違反法律的理由

The act of excusing.
辯護行為
A note explaining an absence.
請假條：解釋缺席的字條
Informal An inferior example:
【非正式用語】 拙劣樣品：
例句：
a poor excuse for a poet; a sorry excuse for a car.
拙劣的詩；蹩腳汽車

來源：
Middle English excusen
中古英語 excusen
from Old French excuser
源自 古法語 excuser
from Latin excôs3re
源自 拉丁語 excôs3re
ex- [ex-]
ex- [前綴，表‘前任的，從前的.]
causa [accusation] * see cause
causa [指責] *參見 cause

【引伸】
excus.able
adj.（形容詞）
excus.ableness
n.（名詞）
excus.ably
adv.（副詞）
excus.er
n.（名詞）