except
Part of speech: verb
prep
conj
Morphological type: simple
Etymology: Borrowed from Middle French excepter, from Latin exceptus.
Inflected forms:
form: excepts
pos: verb
tags: present
singular
third-person
form: excepting
pos: verb
tags: participle
present
form: excepted
pos: verb
tags: participle
past
form: excepted
pos: verb
tags: past
form: excepte
pos: verb
tags: alternative
archaic
rare
form: excepte
pos: prep
tags: alternative
archaic
rare
form: excepte
pos: conj
tags: alternative
archaic
rare
Senses:
gloss: To exclude; to specify as being an exception.
pos: verb
tags: transitive
examples: I find most people annoying — present company excepted, of course!
But this [ban on circumcision] must have been a provocation, as the emperor Antoninus Pius later acknowledged by excepting the Jews.
gloss: To take exception, to object (to or against).
pos: verb
tags: intransitive
examples: to except to a witness or his testimony
Except thou wilt except against my love.
Yea, but methinks I hear some man except at these words […].
The Athenians might fairly except against the practise of Democritus to be buried up in honey; as fearing to embezzle a great commodity of their Countrey
he was a great lover of music, and perhaps, had he lived in town, might have passed for a connoisseur; for he always excepted against the finest compositions of Mr Handel.
gloss: Used to introduce an exception or qualification to something previously stated.
pos: prep
examples: There was nothing in the cupboard except a tin of beans.
Except that he is wearing polka-dot drawers, he is buck naked.
One of the hidden glories of Victorian engineering is proper drains. Isolating a city’s effluent and shipping it away in underground sewers has probably saved more lives than any medical procedure except vaccination.
gloss: Used to introduce a clause, phrase, verb infinitive, adverb or other non-noun complement forming an exception or qualification to something previously stated.
pos: conj
examples: You look a bit like my sister, except (that) she has longer hair.
I never made fun of her except teasingly.
To survive, I did everything except steal.
Come any time except between ten and twelve.
"I don't want to spoil any comparison you are going to make," said Jim, "but I was at Winchester and New College." ¶ "That will do," said Mackenzie. "I was dragged up at the workhouse school till I was twelve. Then I ran away and sold papers in the streets, and anything else that I could pick up a few coppers by—except steal.[…]."
Mother[…]considered that the exclusiveness of Peter's circle was due not to its distinction, but to the fact that it was an inner Babylon of prodigality and whoredom, from which every Kensingtonian held aloof, except on the conventional tip-and-run excursions in pursuit of shopping, tea and theatres.
gloss: Loosely, used to introduce a contrastive statement explaining why something wasn't successful, didn't happen, etc.
pos: conj
tags: informal
examples: They fired tear gas at us, except the wind was blowing the wrong way.
I almost walked out, except I remembered the promise I had made.
gloss: Unless; used to introduce a hypothetical case in which an exception may exist.
pos: conj
tags: archaic
examples: And they sayde: We have no moo but five loves and two fisshes, except we shulde goo and bye meate for all this people.
If I ſay ſooth, I muſt report they were / As Cannons ouer-charg'd with double Cracks, / So they doubly redoubled ſtroakes vpon the Foe: / Except they meant to bathe in reeking Wounds, / Or memorize another Golgotha, / I cannot tell: but I am faint, / My Gaſhes cry for helpe.
Offensive wars, except the cause be very just, I will not allow of.
I am […] not so clear how you will be able to avoid it, except you assert the independence to which your estate gives you a title.
Antonyms: in addition to
for example
even
Related words: exception
excipient
Translations: