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alibi

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The definition of an alibi is an excuse used by a person when they’re trying to avoid getting into trouble, so they say they were somewhere they weren’t.

(noun)

An example of an alibi is when parents asks their teen where he has been, and the child says he was studying at the library when he was really hanging out with friends at the mall.
When a person is charged with burglary but he says he was busy giving a seminar during the time of the break-in, it is an example of an alibi.

The definition of alibi is the act of saying that someone was with you instead of where someone is accused of being, either as a defense for an accusation or as a way to avoid getting into trouble.

(verb)

When a wife says her husband was at home when the murder occurred, it is an example of alibi.

See alibi in Webster's New World College Dictionary

noun pl. alibis

Law the defensive plea or fact that an accused person was elsewhere than at the scene of the crime with which the person is charged
Informal an excuse

Origin: L, contr. < alius ibi, elsewhere

intransitive verb, transitive verb alibied, alibiing

Informal to offer an excuse (for)

See alibi in American Heritage Dictionary 4

noun pl. al·i·bis

Law
a. A form of defense whereby a defendant attempts to prove that he or she was elsewhere when the crime in question was committed.
b. The fact of having been elsewhere when a crime in question was committed.
Usage Problem An explanation offered to avoid blame or justify action; an excuse.

verb al·i·bied, al·i·bi·ing, al·i·bis
Usage Problem

verb, intransitive

To make an excuse for oneself.

verb, transitive

To make an excuse for (another).

Origin:

Origin: Latin, elsewhere

Origin: , from alius, other (on the model of ibi, there); see al-¹ in Indo-European roots

Usage Note: When used as a noun, alibi in its nonlegal sense of “an excuse” is acceptable in written usage to almost half of the Usage Panel. As a verb (they never alibi), it is unacceptable in written usage to a large majority of the Panel.

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