exception definition | Dictionary.com

ex⋅cep⋅tion

[ik-sep-shuh

–noun

1.	the act of excepting or the fact of being excepted.

2.	something excepted; an instance or case not conforming to the general rule.

3.	an adverse criticism, esp. on a particular point; opposition of opinion; objection; demurral: a statement liable to exception.

Law.

a.	an objection, as to a ruling of the court in the course of a trial.

b.	a notation that an objection is preserved for purposes of appeal: saving an exception.

—Idiom

take exception,

a.	to make an objection; demur: They took exception to several points in the contract.

b.	to take offense: She took exception to what I said about her brother.

Origin:
1350–1400; ME excepcioun < L exceptiōn (s. of exceptiō), equiv. to except(us) (see except ¹ ) + -iōn- -ion

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.
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Language Translation for : exception

Spanish:

excepción,

German:

die Ausnahme,

Japanese:

例外

View 30 other languages »

ex·cep·tion (ĭk-sěp'shən) Pronunciation Key
n.

The act of excepting or the condition of being excepted; exclusion.
One that is excepted, especially a case that does not conform to a rule or generalization.
An objection or a criticism: opinions that are open to exception.
Law A formal objection taken in the course of an action or a proceeding.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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exception
noun
1.	a deliberate act of omission; "with the exception of the children, everyone was told the news"
2.	an instance that does not conform to a rule or generalization; "all her children were brilliant; the only exception was her last child"; "an exception tests the rule"
3.	grounds for adverse criticism; "his authority is beyond exception"

WordNet® 3.0, © 2006 by Princeton University.
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exception

In addition to the idioms beginning with exception, also see except for (with the exception of); make an exception; take exception to.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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exception

An auditor's qualification of a financial report that indicates disagreement with an item in the report or limitations to the extent of the audit.

Wall Street Words: An A to Z Guide to Investment Terms for Today's Investor by David L. Scott.
Copyright © 2003 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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Main Entry: ex·cep·tion
Function: noun
1 : something that is excepted or excluded; especially : a situation to which a rule does not apply exceptions, and under such regulations as the Congress shall make —U.S. Constitution article III>
2 : an act of excepting; especially : exclusion of a section of real property from a conveyance —compare RESERVATION
3 : a usually written objection esp. to a judge's ruling exceptions for insufficiency of a pleading shall not be used —Federal Rules of Civil Procedure Rule 7(c)> —used esp. in equity proceedings

Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of Law, © 1996 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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exception
An error condition that changes the normal flow of control in a program. An exception may be generated ("raised") by hardware or software. Hardware exceptions include reset, interrupt or a signal from a memory management unit. Exceptions may be generated by the arithmetic logic unit or floating-point unit for numerical errors such as divide by zero, overflow or underflow or instruction decoding errors such as privileged, reserved, trap or undefined instructions. Software exceptions are even more varied and the term could be applied to any kind of error checking which alters the normal behaviour of the program.
(1994-10-31)

The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing, © 1993-2007 Denis Howe
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Exception

Ex*cep"tion\, n. [L. exceptio: cf. F. exception.]

1. The act of excepting or excluding; exclusion; restriction by taking out something which would otherwise be included, as in a class, statement, rule.

2. That which is excepted or taken out from others; a person, thing, or case, specified as distinct, or not included; as, almost every general rule has its exceptions.

Such rare exceptions, shining in the dark, Prove, rather than impeach, the just remark. --Cowper.

Note: Often with to.

That proud exception to all nature's laws. --Pope.

3. (Law) An objection, oral or written, taken, in the course of an action, as to bail or security; or as to the decision of a judge, in the course of a trail, or in his charge to a jury; or as to lapse of time, or scandal, impertinence, or insufficiency in a pleading; also, as in conveyancing, a clause by which the grantor excepts something before granted. --Burrill.

4. An objection; cavil; dissent; disapprobation; offense; cause of offense; -- usually followed by to or against.

I will never answer what exceptions they can have against our account [relation]. --Bentley.

He . . . took exception to the place of their burial. --Bacon.

She takes exceptions at your person. --Shak.

Bill of exceptions (Law), a statement of exceptions to the decision, or instructions of a judge in the trial of a cause, made for the purpose of putting the points decided on record so as to bring them before a superior court or the full bench for review.

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