excuse-me
noun
a dance in which a person may take another's partner
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excuse-me
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excuse me
excuse me
Also, I beg your pardon, pardon me . Forgive me, as in Excuse me, please let me pass , or Pardon me for asking , or I beg your pardon, I don't think so . These phrases are used as an apology for interrupting a conversation, bumping into someone, asking a speaker to repeat something, politely disagreeing with something said, and so on. The first dates from about 1600, the first variant from about 1800, the second from the mid-1700s.
excuse-me
Britishnoun
excuse me
Idioms
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Also, I beg your pardon, pardon me . Forgive me, as in Excuse me, please let me pass , or Pardon me for asking , or I beg your pardon, I don't think so . These phrases are used as an apology for interrupting a conversation, bumping into someone, asking a speaker to repeat something, politely disagreeing with something said, and so on. The first dates from about 1600, the first variant from about 1800, the second from the mid-1700s.
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Also, excuse oneself . Allow or ask to leave or be released from an obligation. For example, Please excuse me, I have to leave now , or I asked the judge to excuse me from jury duty . [1920s]
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
After starting Lewis, his first batter, with a wild cutter that sent catcher Will Smith sprawling behind the plate, Henriquez executed a better one on the outside corner to induce an excuse-me swing.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 23, 2025
But the giant technology companies are now greedily raising as much money as they can from suckers — excuse me, investors — to keep spending on the AI arms race.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 12, 2026
Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to check if the singing cat has folded my sweaters.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 20, 2026
Similarly, after one contestant told her "don't start," she said in the diary room: "I didn't start it, but I'll bloody finish it - excuse me saying bloody."
From BBC ● Jun. 17, 2025
Japanese, Swedish and Brazilian versions of the show — excuse me, “experiments” — have also led to successful relationships.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 26, 2024
“We don’t know who it was; it looks like they Disapparated. Now excuse me, please, I want to get to bed.”
From "Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire" by J. K. Rowling
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
