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except

ex·cept [ ik sépt ] (past and past participle ex·cept·ed, present participle ex·cept·ing, 3rd person present singular ex·cepts) CORE MEANING: a grammatical word indicating the only person or thing that does not apply to a statement just made, or a fact that modifies the truth of that statement

(prep) Every house in the street except ours is painted white.

(prep) I like all vegetables except cabbage.

(conj) The fires that annually sweep over the prairies prevent the growth of timber, except along the river courses.

(conj) He dislikes the game except when he wins.

Definition:

1. preposition excluding: other than

every house except ours

2. conj ( archaic )
Same as unless

3. transitive verb omit: to leave out or exclude somebody or something ( formal ) ( usually passive )

[14th century. < Latin except-, past participle of excipere "take out" < capere "take"]

except for apart from

He had always been healthy except for an irregular heartbeat.

except that with the exception of the fact that, or if it were not for the fact that

The twins looked identical, except that one had dyed his hair.

I would come, except that I have another engagement.

Word Usage


	except, except for, or excepting: Often the question of whether to use except or except for is a matter of indifference: We'd all seen the play except [or except for] Joe. Where the exception is closely paired with what it is an exception to, except is more usual: All of us except Joe had seen the play.Except for is used where the connection to what is being excepted is indirect, and is also more common at the beginning of a sentence: Except for that, we were in agreement.Excepting is the correct choice after not: She was the most important person in his life, not excepting his mother.

Word Usage


	See accept.