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
"I know it probably doesn't excuse me, but it's a fact. I'm 44 now, I would be 60. So no."
From BBC ● Aug. 20, 2026
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
Oh, excuse me: It makes me want to engage in an involuntary, partially liquid protein spill.
From Salon ● Jul. 25, 2024
“Thank you, Guardian. But you were the one who told me that rovers were not built to last forever. So, if you’ll excuse me, I must make the time that I do have...worth it.”
From "A Rover's Story" by Jasmine Warga
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.
