except

preposition

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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

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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 At Dollywood’s DreamMore Resort, face masks are required in public areas, except when dining or swimming, capacity of public areas will be limited, and housekeeping and public area attendants will increase their cleaning procedures. — Elizabeth Rhodes, Travel + Leisure, "Dollywood Just Released Plans to Reopen on June 15 (Video)," 4 June 2020 The city advised all residents to stay inside except those going to and from work and anyone seeking or giving emergency care, according to Mayor Eric Garcetti's official Twitter account. — NBC News, "'Shame on you': NFL's Roger Goodell slammed for statement on George Floyd protests," 1 June 2020 Since then, every president except Nixon, Reagan, and George H.W. Bush has created national monuments. — National Geographic, "CREATE A FREE NAT GEO ACCOUNT TO CONTINUE READING," 29 May 2020 Most of these pools,except McKie, are wheelchair accessible, according to the Cincinnati Recreation Commission's website. — Cincinnati Enquirer, "Cincinnati reopening some city pools: What to know for summer 2020," 27 May 2020 No one is allowed inside her home except those helping her, White's representative told Today. — Alaa Elassar, CNN, "Betty White is doing perfectly fine despite the coronavirus pandemic," 25 May 2020 Under Supreme Court precedents related to the principles of separation of power, Congress – one branch of government – cannot remove an official in the executive branch – another branch of government – except by impeachment. — Stanley M. Brand, The Conversation, "Congress may not like it when Trump fires an inspector general – but it can’t do anything to stop him," 22 May 2020 The whole story sounds as apocryphal as most of the other origin stories connected to Warhol—except that one biographer claims to have seen the actual check Warhol wrote to Latow. — Blake Gopnik, Smithsonian Magazine, "How Andy Warhol Came to Paint Campbell’s Soup Cans," 16 Apr. 2020 The government in Madrid has imposed some of the most restrictive lockdown measures in Europe, shuttering most businesses and forcing people to stay in their homes except to buy groceries and seek healthcare. — Sonia Sirletti, Bloomberg.com, "Spain Virus Cases Pass Italy, Where Daily Deaths Are Falling," 10 May 2020 Recent Examples on the Web: Verb Community transmissions in the country have mostly been brought to a halt, and most businesses — excepting cinemas, theme parks and live entertainment venues — have reopened their doors. — Scott Roxborough, The Hollywood Reporter, "Shooting During the Pandemic: How Global Producers Have Found New Ways to Work," 1 May 2020 But this will be the first time viewers will be able to stream live programming from PBS through a digital service, excepting some anomalies over the years like the now-defunct Aero service and the like. — Samuel Axon, Ars Technica, "Soon you’ll be able to watch PBS on YouTube," 29 July 2019 Diplomats, however, had been excepted and some have been trying to bend the rules to bring in their families. — Alissa J. Rubin, New York Times, "At the Iranian Border, Iraqis Try to Keep a Virus From Entering," 13 Mar. 2020 On Sunday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended that gatherings be limited to 50 people or less for the next eight weeks, with the day-to-day operation of schools and businesses excepted. — Jorge L. Ortiz, USA TODAY, "While Donald Trump remains optimistic in US fight against coronavirus, the 'worst' is yet to come, task force says," 16 Mar. 2020 The measure is excepted to reduce the state’s 96,000 prison population by 4,800 for a potential savings of $50 million. — John Haughey, Washington Examiner, "Florida Senate adopts sentencing reform for first-time drug offenders," 27 Feb. 2020 Trump’s ban on admission of travelers from Europe (excepting Ireland and the United Kingdom) took European governments by surprise. — Paul Bedard, Washington Examiner, "White House Report Card: Dueling performances on virus ends on a weekly high," 14 Mar. 2020 As the planet cooled in subsequent millennia, these canids expanded their range, evolving into foxes and eventually reaching every continent excepting Antarctica. — David James, Anchorage Daily News, "New book explores the hidden world of the fabled yet enigmatic fox," 23 Feb. 2020 The rules for formal languages may grow more and more complex, but all robust general programming languages (excepting regex, HTML, and a few other specific things) are reducible to a Turing-complete grammar like this. — Caroline Delbert, Popular Mechanics, "Scientists Made the World's First Chemical Turing Machine," 9 Jan. 2020

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

Cite this Entry

“Except.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/except. Accessed 3 Mar. 2021.

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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)

formal : 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

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