except

preposition

ex·cept | \ ik-ˈsept

variants: or less commonly excepting \ ik-ˈsep-tiŋ

Definition of except

(Entry 1 of 3)

: with the exclusion or exception of daily except Sundays

except

verb

excepted; excepting; excepts

Definition of except (Entry 2 of 3)

transitive verb

: to take or leave out from a number or a whole : exclude

intransitive verb

: to take exception : object

except

conjunction

variants: or less commonly excepting

Definition of except (Entry 3 of 3)

1 : on any other condition than that : unless except you repent

2 : with this exception, namely was inaccessible except by boat

3 : only —often followed by that I would go except that it's too far

Other Words from except Synonyms More Example Sentences Learn More about except

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Examples of except in a Sentence

Preposition

The stores will be open daily except Sundays. the store is open daily except Sundays

Verb

Children were excepted from the study. I must except to your remark that there are no great novelists currently living.

Conjunction

I'd go, except it's too far.

Recent Examples on the Web: Preposition

If that combo isn't for you, there's also the Bedford Grand candle―which looks just like the Holiday Grand, except green―with a blend of pine needles, juniper berry, cypress, and vetiver. — Alyssa Fiorentino, House Beautiful, "This Is What A $500 Candle Looks Like," 7 Dec. 2018 Amazon did tout the line in its press release, but a commuter rail with a last evening run leaving at 5:45 p.m., except on Friday evenings, isn’t feasible for most downtown workers. — Cari Wade Gervin, Curbed, "Will Amazon be good for Nashville?," 21 Nov. 2018 Lake County has had school resource officers provided by the sheriff in the middle and high schools except in Mount Dora, which are provided by city officers. — Lauren Ritchie, OrlandoSentinel.com, "Protecting students should be a community effort, not just school board's responsibility," 9 July 2018 Friday’s overall forecast is similar — except that drier air will be moving in during the day which decreases the overall chance of showers and thunderstorms to 30 percent. — Doug Phillips, Sun-Sentinel.com, "Holiday will not be independent of thunder boomers; and a look at the tropics," 4 July 2018 Minicamp does not differ much from organized team activities, which were held throughout May and early June, except in one way: Players can be fined for missing workouts, as opposed to the voluntary OTAs. — Jourdan Rodrigue, charlotteobserver, "Carolina Panthers minicamp highlights, including early candidate for play of the week," 12 June 2018 If the deal is ratified, a 21-month standstill period will follow Brexit on March 29 during which the U.K.’s relationship with the EU will be essentially unchanged, except that there will be no direct British representation in EU institutions. — Stephen Fidler, WSJ, "An Explainer on the 585-page Brexit Deal," 14 Nov. 2018 Open to legal residents of the 50 United States/D.C. 21 or older, except employees of Sponsor, their immediate families and those living in the same household. — Condé Naste Traveler: Post, "Discover Dallas Sweepstakes," 26 Oct. 2018 All goods are made in California except Kim’s jackets, which are made in Texas, and Ruiko Kurihara’s clothing, which is made and hand-embroidered in Vietnam. — Mandy Behbehani, San Francisco Chronicle, "Indie fashion lines band together with SF Bay Makers," 14 June 2018

Recent Examples on the Web: Verb

Google gets top marks for the exterior of the Pixel Slate (keyboard excepted), but the interior is where things start to get messy. — Dieter Bohn, The Verge, "Google Pixel Slate review: slapdash," 27 Nov. 2018 Turkey and Britain excepted, the NATO nations are more dependencies than allies. ... — Ezra Klein, Vox, "Why is Trump undermining NATO and the EU? He just told us.," 13 July 2018 In our Big 4 games hands are crucial to most of the key players (offensive and defensive linemen generally excepted). — Bob Ryan, BostonGlobe.com, "You don’t have to love soccer to appreciate the greatness of the World Cup," 29 June 2018 But the Westside's streets are gridlocked for hours twice a day, everyday; cycling is often lethal; and excepting main commercial strips and touristy stretches, most of the area's sidewalks are utterly empty. — Conor Friedersdorf, The Atlantic, "Fly On, My Sleek Electric Bird," 30 May 2018 And all of the attendees, possibly excepting the guy from DSA, are united by their desire to get a photo of (or long-distance selfie with) Musk, who is mobbed at the stage after the presentation. — Kevin Lincoln, The Verge, "I went to Elon Musk’s Boring Company LA pep rally," 18 May 2018 Congress hasn’t impeached a member of the executive branch (presidents excepted) since the 19th century. — Kimberley A. Strassel, WSJ, "The Real Constitutional Crisis," 24 May 2018 Daniel Slater of the University of Michigan points out that during that period not a single regime met even minimally democratic standards, excepting Thailand’s brief flirtation with democracy in 1973-76, which soon gave way to military rule. — The Economist, "South-East Asia: lots of elections, not so much democracy," 24 May 2018 No one has played more basketball than the Warriors over the past four seasons, excepting the seemingly ageless LeBron James. — Al Saracevic, SFChronicle.com, "After four long years of winning, are the Warriors tired?," 23 May 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'except.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

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Dictionary Entries near except

excenter

excentric

excentric, excentrical

Statistics for except

Last Updated

10 Jan 2019

Look-up Popularity

Time Traveler for except

The first known use of except was in the 14th century

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More Definitions for except

except

preposition

English Language Learners Definition of except

(Entry 1 of 3)

: not including (someone or something) : other than (something or someone)

except

verb

English Language Learners Definition of except (Entry 2 of 3)

: to leave out (someone or something) : to not include (someone or something)

except

conjunction

English Language Learners Definition of except (Entry 3 of 3)

—used to introduce a statement that indicates the only person or thing that is not included in or referred to by a previous statement

—used to introduce a statement that explains the reason why something is not possible, will not happen, etc.

See the full definition for except in the English Language Learners Dictionary

except

preposition

ex·cept | \ ik-ˈsept

Kids Definition of except

(Entry 1 of 3)

1 : not including We're open every day except Sundays.

2 : other than : but She told everyone except me.

except

conjunction

Kids Definition of except (Entry 2 of 3)

: if it were not for the fact that : only I'd go, except it's too far.

except

verb

excepted; excepting

Kids Definition of except (Entry 3 of 3)

: to leave out from a number or a whole : exclude Children are excepted from the requirements.

except

transitive verb

ex·cept | \ ik-ˈsept\

Legal Definition of except

: to take or leave out (as from insurance coverage or a deed) : exclude specifically excepted the air carriers and unions from the provisions— M. A. Kelly

intransitive verb

: object especially : to file a bill of exceptions or make a formal exception excepted to the judge's order