ɪkˈskjuːz ɪksˈkjuz ɪkˈspleɪn ˈɛksplɪˌkeɪt serve as a reason or cause or justification of Your need to sleep late does not excuse your late arrival at work Her recent divorce may explain her reluctance to date again make plain and comprehensible He explained the laws of physics to his students define The committee explained their plan for fund-raising to the Dean