Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- preposition With the exclusion of; other than; but.
- conjunction If it were not for the fact that; only. Often used with that:
- conjunction Otherwise than.
- conjunction Archaic Unless.
- intransitive verb To leave out; exclude.
- intransitive verb To object.
- idiom (except for) Were it not for.
from The Century Dictionary.
- Being excepted or left out; with the exception of; excepting: usually equivalent to but, but more emphatic.
- Excepting; if it be not that; unless.
- To take or leave out of consideration; exclude from a statement or category, as one or more of a number, or some particular or detail; omit or withhold: as, to
except a few from a general condemnation. - To object; take exception: now usually followed by to, but formerly sometimes by against: as, to
except to a witness or to his testimony.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- conjunction Unless; if it be not so that.
- preposition With exclusion of; leaving or left out; excepting.
- intransitive verb To take exception; to object; -- usually followed by
to , sometimes byagainst . - transitive verb To take or leave out (anything) from a number or a whole as not belonging to it; to exclude; to omit.
- transitive verb obsolete To object to; to protest against.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- verb transitive To
exclude ; to specify as being anexception . - verb intransitive To
take exception , toobject (to oragainst ). - preposition With the exception of;
but . - conjunction With the exception (that); used to introduce a clause, phrase or adverb forming an exception or qualification to something previously stated.
- conjunction archaic
Unless ; used to introduce a hypothetical case in which an exception may exist.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- verb take exception to
- verb prevent from being included or considered or accepted
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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True it is, that one can scarcely call _that_ education which teaches woman everything except herself, -- _except_ the things that relate to her own peculiar womanly destiny, and, on plea of the holiness of ignorance, sends her without one word of just counsel into the temptations of life.
The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 04, No. 22, August, 1859 Various
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Interestingly, in most states, the law except in Florida requires you to walk away from a fight if you can, *except* in your own home, where you can shoot someone and it’s considered self-defense.
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What we were too dumb to realize was that the guys in Def Leppard hated the term “heavy metal,” and any member of the band would have given his right arm to avoid the label except for Rick Alien, I suppose.
Fargo Rock City Chuck Klosterman 2003
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Throughout the ordeal, no one said a word except for a single monk they encountered in the sanctuary.
The Thieves of Darkness Richard Doetsch 2010
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They were told to start and no one said a word except Victor, who continued to complain as they counted out their punishment.
American Assassin Vince Flynn 2010
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Who here would know her name except someone who knew Nate, too?
Clockwork Angel Cassandra Clare 2010
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Throughout the ordeal, no one said a word except for a single monk they encountered in the sanctuary.
The Thieves of Darkness Richard Doetsch 2010
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Throughout the ordeal, no one said a word except for a single monk they encountered in the sanctuary.
The Thieves of Darkness Richard Doetsch 2010
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Who here would know her name except someone who knew Nate, too?
Cassandra Clare: The Mortal Instrument Series Cassandra Clare 2009
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Who here would know her name except someone who knew Nate, too?
City of Glass Cassandra Clare 2009
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