except

(ĭk-sĕpt')
prep.
With the exclusion of; other than; but: everyone except me.

conj.

1. If it were not for the fact that; only. Often used with that: I would buy the suit, except that it costs too much.
2. Otherwise than: They didn't open their mouths except to complain.
3. Unless: "And ne'er throughout the year to church thou go'st/Except it be to pray against thy foes" (Shakespeare).

v., -cept·ed, -cept·ing, -cepts.

v.tr.
To leave out; exclude: An admission fee is charged, but children are excepted.

v.intr.
To object: Counsel excepted to the court's ruling.

idiom:

except for

1. Were it not for: I would join you except for my cold.

[Middle English, from Latin exceptus, past participle of excipere, to exclude : ex-, ex- + capere, to take.]

USAGE NOTE   Except in the sense of "with the exclusion of" or "other than" is generally viewed as a preposition, not a conjunction. Therefore, a personal pronoun that follows except should be in the objective case: No one except me knew it. Everyone had a ticket except her.

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1. Use as a conjunction is now archaic, as in the famous passage in Psalms (AV, 127:1): Except the Lord build the house, they labour in vaine that build it (in more modern translations this is rendered Unless the Lord builds the house...).

2. Except should not normally be used by itself to mean 'except that' or 'but', although this is common informally and in conversation:

The day he turned 18, Trojan moved into his own council flat in Caledonian Road. Except he didn't like it—The Face, 1987.

3. Except for, as in They all came except for James, is also somewhat informal, and is best avoided when except alone will do: They all came except James. At the beginning of a sentence, however, except for is needed: Except for James, everyone brought a gift with them.

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verb

1. To keep from being admitted, included, or considered: bar, count out, debar, eliminate, exclude, keep out, rule out, shut out. See include/exclude.
2. To express opposition, often by argument: challenge, demur, expostulate, inveigh, object, protest, remonstrate. Informal kick, squawk. Idioms: set up a squawk, take exception. See support/oppose.

v

Definition: leave out
Antonyms: admit, allow, include

IN BRIEF: To exclude.

There is no failure except in no longer trying. — Elbert Hubbard (1856-1915).

Tutor's tip: To "accept" means to receive or approve, while "except" means to exclude. An "excerpt" is a short part of something written or filmed.

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For a list of words related to except, see:

• Conjunctions
• Prepositions
• Limitations and Conditions

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See words rhyming with "except."

  See crossword solutions for the clue Except.

Dansk (Danish)
prep. - undtagen, bortset fra
conj. - medmindre
v. tr. - undtage
v. intr. - gøre indsigelse imod

idioms:

• except for    bortset fra
• nobody excepted    ingen undtaget

Nederlands (Dutch)
behalve, op .. na, tenzij, uitzonderen, bezwaar maken

Français (French)
prep. - excepté, sauf, à l'exception de, hormis, sinon, si ce n'est
conj. - à moins que
v. tr. - excepter, exclure, faire exception de
v. intr. - excepter, exclure

idioms:

• except for    à part, à l'exception de, si ce n'est
• nobody excepted    personne sans exception

Deutsch (German)
prep. - außer
conj. - doch, es sei denn
v. - ausnehmen

idioms:

• except for    abgesehen von, außer
• nobody excepted    niemanden ausgenommen

Ελληνική (Greek)
prep. - εκτός από, πλην, εξαιρουμένου (του)
conj. - παρά μόνο, εκτός κι αν
v. - εξαιρώ, αποκλείω

idioms:

• except for    εκτός από
• nobody excepted    ουδενός εξαιρουμένου

Italiano (Italian)
salvo, eccetto che, escludere

idioms:

• except for    eccetto che
• nobody excepted    senza eccezione

Português (Portuguese)
prep. - exceto, a não ser
conj. - a menos que
v. - excetuar, opor-se

idioms:

• except for    exceto por
• nobody excepted    sem exceção de ninguém

Русский (Russian)
кроме, исключать

idioms:

• except for    за исключением
• nobody excepted    без исключений

Español (Spanish)
prep. - excepto, salvo, exceptuando a, con excepción de, a excepción de, menos
conj. - sino, fuera de que
v. tr. - excluir, exceptuar
v. intr. - poner reparos, oponerse, objetar

idioms:

• except for    excepto, a excepción de, menos, salvo
• nobody excepted    sin excluir a nadie

Svenska (Swedish)
prep. - utom
conj. - utom att
v. - undanta, göra undantag

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
除了...之外, 除非, 若不是, 除了, 但是, 要不是, 除, 反对, 除外, 表示异议

idioms:

• except for    除了...以外, 要不是由于
• nobody excepted    无人除外

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
prep. - 除了...之外, 除非, 若不是
conj. - 除了, 但是, 要不是
v. tr. - 除, 反對, 除外
v. intr. - 反對, 表示異議

idioms:

• except for    除了...以外, 要不是由於
• nobody excepted    無人除外

한국어 (Korean)
prep. - ~을 제외하고는
conj. - ~하지 않는다면
v. tr. - 제외하다
v. intr. - 반대하다

idioms:

• except for    ~을 빼고는

日本語 (Japanese)
prep. - 除いて
v. - 除く

idioms:

• except for    除いては, …がなければ

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(حرف جر) ما عدا (حرف عطف) ما لم (فعل) يستثني‏

עברית (Hebrew)
prep. - ‮חוץ מ-, פרט ל-, למעט‬
conj. - ‮אלא ש-‬
v. tr. - ‮לא כלל, הוציא‬
v. intr. - ‮לא כלל, הוציא‬

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