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Excuse means to overlook some (usually) slight offense: to excuse bad manners. Forgive is applied to excusing more serious offenses: to forgive and forget. Pardon usually applies to a specific act of lenience or mercy by an official or superior: The governor was asked to pardon the condemned criminal. Excuse, apology both imply an explanation of some failure or failing. Excuse implies a desire to avoid punishment or rebuke. 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Her latest effort is a poor excuse for a novel."}],"id":"5568099e000000017b004ddd","ordinal":5,"source":"random-house","text":"an inferior or inadequate specimen of something specified."}],"id":"5568099e000000017b004dcf","ordinal":2,"partOfSpeech":"noun"}],"pronunciationSets":[{"id":"5568099e000000017b004da4","lang":"en","ordinal":1,"pronunciations":[{"audio":{"flac":"E03/E0387400/E0387400.flac","mpeg":"E03/E0387400/E0387400.mp3","ogg":"E03/E0387400/E0387400.ogg","wav":"E03/E0387400/E0387400.wav"},"id":"5568099e000000017b004da7","ipa":{"text":"ɪkˈskyuz"},"phonetic":{"boldIndices":[3,4,5,6,7,8],"html":"ik-skyooz","text":"ik-skyooz"}}],"region":"us"},{"id":"5568099e8f0d7c8ede647f34","lang":"en","ordinal":2,"pronunciations":[{"id":"5568099e000000017b004dad","ipa":{"text":"ɪkˈskyus"},"phonetic":{"boldIndices":[3,4,5,6,7,8],"html":"ik-skyoos","text":"ik-skyoos"}}],"region":"us"}],"slug":"excuse","source":"dcom","type":"dcom"}],"type":"dcom"},{"entries":[{"createDate":"2010-10-14T10:02:48Z","derivedFormSets":[{"derivedForms":[{"form":"excusable"}],"partOfSpeech":"adjective"},{"derivedForms":[{"form":"excusably"}],"partOfSpeech":"adverb"},{"derivedForms":[{"form":"excusableness"}],"partOfSpeech":"noun"}],"headword":{"normalizedForm":"excuse","standardForm":"excuse"},"id":"4cb6d548c7c39e9e27b0357b","lang":"en","modifyDate":"2010-10-14T10:02:48Z","ngrams":{"allLetters":true,"forward":"excuse","groups":["c","e","ee","s","u","x"],"numLetters":6,"reverse":"esucxe","subwordTokens":["excuse","xcuse","cuse","use","se","e"]},"normalizedLetter":"e","ordinal":1,"origin":{"source":"collins","text":"C13: from Latin excusāre, from _ex- ¹ + -cūsare, from causa cause, accusation","type":"etymology"},"partOfSpeechBlocks":[{"definitions":[{"examples":[{"sentence":"he always excuses her unpunctuality"}],"id":"4ca6710d652bb1066bd4224d","ordinal":1,"tags":[{"tag":"General:General_Language:General_Language_Term","type":"subject-field"}],"text":"to pardon or forgive"},{"examples":[{"sentence":"to excuse oneself for one's mistakes"}],"id":"4c6bccb2665d938ad1fabd8f","ordinal":2,"tags":[{"tag":"General:General_Language:General_Language_Term","type":"subject-field"}],"text":"to seek pardon or exemption for (a person, esp oneself)"},{"examples":[{"sentence":"to excuse someone's ignorance"}],"id":"4ce58c6b2cda480d212ba212","ordinal":3,"tags":[{"tag":"General:General_Language:General_Language_Term","type":"subject-field"}],"text":"to make allowances for; 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excuse

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