extenuation

"He attacked me like the low ruffian that he is," pleaded Halbert, in extenuation.

You heard him plead, in extenuation of his fault, his mode of life, his rearing.

From the British point of view there was much to be said in extenuation of the practice.

The object of this examination grinned a faint grin of extenuation.

"The las' time, Bettie; the las' time," he said, in extenuation.

For Don Ignacio himself, as the recipient of these favours, much may be said in extenuation.

But not willingly, he pleaded, in extenuation; it had crept upon him unawares.

What have you to say in extenuation of your conduct hitherto?

I urged my oath in extenuation of my conduct, and that I was bound to return.

"But the fellow is sincere," the professor urged in extenuation.