Doing it once was just about excusable — doing it twice was certainly not. ft®iTi£BriA®®, AMft

^; H33 INEXCUSABLE

eX-CUSe O'* noun, verb

m noun /ik'skjuis/ 1 ~ (for sth/for doing sth) a reason, either true or invented, that you give to explain or defend your behaviour ff p ; JlA; MM: Late again! What’s your excuse this time? X jSPJ 7! ffciAftW-ft* A ft P ? o There’s no excuse for such behaviour. iA®7i A® Tiifto 0 His excuse for forgetting her birthday was that he had lost his diary, 0 iBAAT A)S7M

(fjA 0 o 0 You don’t have to make excuses for her (= try to think of reasons for her behaviour). A

T o o It’s late. I’m afraid I’ll have to make my excuses (= say I’m sorry, give my reasons and leave). Bt 7 •¥■ To fltIBf*;, o note at reason 2 ~ (for

sth/for doing sth) | ~ (to do sth) a good reason that you give for doing sth that you want to do for other reasons ( JEii^J ) Si, ft P: It’s just an excuse for a party. & Hlkfei^ <, 0 It gave me an excuse to take the

car. JFAftc 3 a very bad example of sth

H ft on; Hi P : Why get involved with that pathetic excuse for a human being? Aft

^B? 4 (NAmE) a note written by a parent or doctor to explain why a student cannot go to school or sb cannot go to work fg# (

Si )

n verb /ik'skjuiz/ 1 ~ sth | ~ sb (for sth/for doing sth) to

forgive sb for sth that they have done, for example not being polite or making a small mistake ® ®; % Si: [VN] Please excuse the mess. i#Ji[L®₀ 0

7 hope you’ll excuse me for being so late. If 'a B&, #M®tl5®®o 0 You must excuse my father—he’s not

always that rude. ^ ® ® IS X A fife ft 7 &

II2$ ft fi H ft 4L o 0 (BrE) You might be excused for thinking that Ben is in charge (= he is not, but it is an easy mistake to make). ®i£iA AJi A&Tli, ;&hJ®® ®d o[VN -ing] {formal) Excuse my interrupting you. ft A , 'frift# —To ² [VN] ~ sth | ~ sb/yourself (for sth/for doing sth) to make your or sb else’s behaviour seem less offensive by finding reasons for it A -M M ( ^JoSi ) H77I justify: Nothing can excuse such rudeness. #flllfcffi4IA;4LAt£®®o 3 [VN] ~ sb/yourself (from sth) to allow sb to leave; to say in a polite way that^you are leavingi#A}f£T?itF; (ft Jf HU ) if A ® ® : Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m a very busy man. A Rf fcU , tS5fcTr — A 7 „ fkfSft„ 0 She excused herself and left the meeting early. MiftTT* “if ®®” ffcJliiuftiF Tiio 4 ~ sb (from sth/from doing sth) [usually passive] to allow sb to not do sth that they should normally do [WJifijfe#: [VN] She was

excused from giving evidence because of her age. 0AM [also VNN] fT»TO1 ex'cuse me 1 used to politely get sb’s attention, especially sb you do not know ( ) %%, if®

®: Excuse me, is this the way to the station? #3], ft Jg, ft A 3ft 04 Eft®!? 2 used to politely ask sb to move so that you can get past them ( ) ft 7

ili, , {e it: Excuse me, could you let me through? M 7 ®, ft it lie ft ft ^ ? 3 used to say that you are sorry for interrupting sb or behaving in a slightly rude way ( ) X**®, if®®:

Guy sneezed loudly. ‘Excuse me,’ he said. HfftAAfTT7 ^ B i# T ft “ ft 7 & ” o 4 used to disagree

politely with sb ( ) X4A&, if®®,

iS ffi D:: Excuse me, but I don’t think that’s true. jgffi Ifc, f£iAAftAIIJt&4o 5 used to politely tell sb that you are going to leave or talk to sb else (

if®®, jfiifc: ‘Excuse me for a moment,’ she said and left the room. Mi# 7 ft “ iS ffi It, A Pf ^ 7 JL ” ift ft JF 7 J# is] o 6 (especially NAmE) used to say sorry for pushing sb or doing sth wrong ( ) *fA&, if®

®, iS ffe ifc: Oh, excuse me. I didn’t see you there. PH ^p7, ftA®, W&M37 excuse me? (NAmE) used when you did not hear what sb said and you want

them to repeat it ( M, i& ) ft 7

3®, if-Si#—ill — more at French n.

,ex-di' rectory adj. (BrE) (of a person or telephone number A^^if ®fi^) not listed in the public telephone book, at the request of the owner of the telephone. The telephone company will not give ex-directory numbers to people who ask for them. ftfij A

) : an

ex-directory number A M A A if ft (ft ffe if ® 53 O She’s ex-directory, jfe (ft £ A A M A A if ® ^ $# „ — see also

UNLISTED

exeat /'eksiaet/ noun (BrE) permission from an institution such as a boarding school to be away from it for a period of time (

exec /ig'zek/ noun (informal) an executive in a business

( ) im, ^SAM

execrable /'eksikrabl/ adj. {formal) very bad fiUK);

HU TERRIBLE

exe cut able /ig'zekjatabl/ adj. (computing if) (of a file or program that can be run by a computer

nTWTM

execute /'eksikjuit/ verb [VN] 1 [usually passive] ~ sb (for sth) to kill sb, especially as a legal punishment ( A fn if A ) ^h^E: He was executed for treason.

Sif o 0 The prisoners were executed by firing

squad. A E i if ffil PA A ₀ ² {formal) to do a

piece of work, perform a duty, put a plan into action, etc. %Mi: They drew up and executed a

plan to reduce fuel consumption. #, fi] rl'J iT A Jj& T ~ -51 I# fft ‘M ^4 if % (ft it $j o 0 The crime was very cleverly executed. &—$E ® jiS ^^S&i# A #*5■& „ 0 Check that the computer has executed your commands. ^Sr —“Fit 3 {formal) to successfully perform a skilful action or movement ( ft7iif

ft ) : The pilot executed a perfect landing.

7. — A ^ # tfi B 61 if K % fa o 4 (formal) to make or produce a work of art ft] ft, ( It Arm ) : Picasso also executed several landscapes at Horta de San Juan.

s{iaww)

to follow the instructions in a legal document; to make a document legally valid ft 7 ( A 4" ) ; ft ( A ft A

# )

execu-tion /.eksi'kjuijn/ noun 1 [u, C] the act of killing sb, especially as a legal punishment ft ft : He faced execution by hanging for murder, ftt H ® A ic ® IP] ft fEo 0 Over 200 executions were carried out last year. A AfttrT 200 ^f2fE)PJo 2 [U] (formal) the act of doing a piece of work, performing a duty, or putting a plan into action ftfx; He had failed in the execution

of his duty, fit At^MftlR^o 0 The idea was good, but the execution was poor. jAAillfPlAit, lf,₀ 3 [U] (formal) skill in performing or making sth, such as a piece of music or work of art ^ iH; ( A ®

W M H A on W ) ill ft: Her execution of the

piano piece was perfect. $5 JG SP g ftd ^ ft M # f# # # % Ho 4 [U] (law W) the act of following the instructions in a legal document, especially those in sb’s will ( ft fa ill ) ftffr frarci see STAY n.

execu-tion-er /.eksi'kjuijona(r)/ noun a public official whose job is to execute criminals frfPJIT fEiPJftff#

eX-eCU-tive o-w /ig'zekjativ/ noun, adj.

m noun 1 [C] a person who has an important job as a manager of a company or an organization ( A^llfAl fJS A ® ; advertising/ business/sales, etc. executives 7 A. 4k#, o a chief/senior/top executive in a computer firm — M itHTJl/Anl M&m / / ll±f ² [C+sing./pl. V.] a

group of people who run a company or an organization ( mt&nSKMftW ) The union’s

executive has/have yet to reach a decision.

AT^fttbftlto 3 the executive [sing.+sing./pl. v.] the part of a government responsible for putting laws into effect ( j£fc Jfr (ft ■) fr bP H —compare judiciary,

LEGISLATURE

madj. [only before noun] 1 connected with managing a business or an organization, and with making plans and decisions (ft; ftit&T She has an