extenuating circumstances

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A situation or condition that provides an excuse for an action, as in Although Nancy missed three crucial rehearsals, there were extenuating circumstances, so she was not dismissed. This expression was originally legal terminology, denoting circumstances that partly excuse a crime and therefore call for less punishment or damages. [c. 1600]

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Did you ever collect all those state quarters? Put them to good use on this quiz about curious state monikers and the facts around them.

Question 1 of 8

Mississippi’s nickname comes from the magnificent trees that grow there. What is it?

The Sunflower State

The Evergreen State

The Magnolia State

The Mockingbird State

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Words nearby extenuating circumstances

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Example sentences from the Web for extenuating circumstances

And as he adjusted to this change in circumstances, he screamed at himself a second time: Wait!
Powerful Congressman Writes About ‘Fleshy Breasts’|Asawin Suebsaeng|January 7, 2015|DAILY BEAST
Guilt, when dispensed in the circumstances Morris occupied, is the anti-Viagra.
Powerful Congressman Writes About ‘Fleshy Breasts’|Asawin Suebsaeng|January 7, 2015|DAILY BEAST
The grim instability of shelter life is hardly a recipe for success under the best of circumstances.
His First Day Out Of Jail After 40 Years: Adjusting To Life Outside|Justin Rohrlich|January 3, 2015|DAILY BEAST
Gender roles exceed the biological circumstances of childbirth and they are, perhaps, much less likely to change.
Men Will Someday Have Kids Without Women|Samantha Allen|January 3, 2015|DAILY BEAST

I wish I could be writing to you under better circumstances, but unfortunately those avenues have closed up.
Dear Leelah, We Will Fight On For You: A Letter to a Dead Trans Teen|Parker Molloy|January 1, 2015|DAILY BEAST
This was no strange sight to the boy by that time, but it was awkward in the circumstances, for he had neither gun nor spear.
The Giant of the North|R.M. Ballantyne
To advance in such circumstances was out of the question, he therefore set about building a miniature hut of snow.
The Giant of the North|R.M. Ballantyne
I was four hours under these circumstances, expecting, and indeed wishing, every moment to be my last.
Gulliver's Travels|Jonathan Swift
It was depressing to think of going to bed in such circumstances with the yelling of an Arctic storm for a lullaby.
The Giant of the North|R.M. Ballantyne
Never before in human experience had such a display of kindly feeling and profound regret been witnessed in similar circumstances.
The Giant of the North|R.M. Ballantyne

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MEANINGS

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WRITING

WORD OF THE DAY

extenuating circumstances

QUIZZES

THINK YOU’VE GOT A HANDLE ON THIS US STATE NICKNAME QUIZ?

Words nearby extenuating circumstances

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Example sentences from the Web for extenuating circumstances