except

Etymology

Definitions

1. 1

   To exclude

   To exclude; to specify as being an exception.

   • 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.
2. 2

   To take exception, to object (to or against).

   • 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 […].
3. 3

   Used to introduce an exception or qualification to something previously stated.

   • 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.
4. ›+ 3 more definitionsshow fewer

   1. 4

      Used to introduce a clause, phrase, verb infinitive, adverb or other non-noun complement…

      Used to introduce a clause, phrase, verb infinitive, adverb or other non-noun complement forming an exception or qualification to something previously stated.

      • 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.
   2. 5

      Loosely, used to introduce a contrastive statement explaining why something wasn't…

      Loosely, used to introduce a contrastive statement explaining why something wasn't successful, didn't happen, etc.

      • 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.
   3. 6

      Unless

      Unless; used to introduce a hypothetical case in which an exception may exist.

      • And they sayde: We have no moo but five loves and two fisshes, except we shulde goo and bye meate for all this people.
      • Offensive wars, except the cause be very just, I will not allow of.

The neighborhood

• antonymin addition to
• antonymfor example
• antonymeven
• neighborexception
• neighborexcipient