| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000. |
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| alibi |
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| SYLLABICATION: | al·i·bi |
| PRONUNCIATION: |   l  -b  |
| NOUN: | Inflected forms: pl. al·i·bis
1. 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. 2. Usage Problem An explanation offered to avoid blame or justify action; an excuse. | | VERB: | Inflected forms: al·i·bied, al·i·bi·ing, al·i·bis
Usage Problem | | INTRANSITIVE VERB: | To make an excuse for oneself. | | TRANSITIVE VERB: | To make an excuse for (another). | | ETYMOLOGY: | Latin, elsewhere, from alius, other (on the model of ibi, there). See al-1 in Appendix I. | | 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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| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by the Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. |
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