Ex*cept", v. i. To take exception; to object; -- usually followed by to, sometimes by against; as, to except to a witness or his testimony.
Except thou wilt except against my love.
Shak.
Ex*cept", prep. [Originally past participle, or verb in the imperative mode.] With exclusion of; leaving or left out; excepting.
God and his Son except,
Created thing naught valued he nor . . . shunned.
Milton.
Syn. -- Except, Excepting, But, Save, Besides. Excepting, except, but, and save are exclusive. Except marks exclusion more pointedly. "I have finished all the letters except one," is more marked than "I have finished all the letters but one." Excepting is the same as except, but less used. Save is chiefly found in poetry. Besides (lit., by the side of) is in the nature of addition. "There is no one here except or but him," means, take him away and there is nobody present. "There is nobody here besides him," means, he is present and by the side of, or in addition to, him is nobody. "Few ladies, except her Majesty, could have made themselves heard." In this example, besides should be used, not except.
Ex*cept" (?), conj. Unless; if it be not so that.
And he said, I will not let thee go, except thou bless me.
Gen. xxxii. 26.
But yesterday you never opened lip,
Except, indeed, to drink.
Tennyson.
As a conjunction unless has mostly taken the place of except.
Ex*cept"ant (?), a. Making exception.
Ex*cept"ing, prep. & conj., but properly a participle. With rejection or exception of; excluding; except. "Excepting your worship's presence." Shak.
No one was ever yet made utterly miserable, excepting by himself.
Lubbock.
Ex*cep"tion (?), n. [L. exceptio: cf. F. exception.] 1. The act of excepting or excluding; exclusion; restriction by taking out something which would otherwise be included, as in a class, statement, rule.
2. That which is excepted or taken out from others; a person, thing, or case, specified as distinct, or not included; as, almost every general rule has its exceptions.
Such rare exceptions, shining in the dark,
Prove, rather than impeach, the just remark.
Cowper.
Often with to.
That proud exception to all nature's laws.
Pope.
3. (Law) An objection, oral or written, taken, in the course of an action, as to bail or security; or as to the decision of a judge, in the course of a trail, or in his charge to a jury; or as to lapse of time, or scandal, impertinence, or insufficiency in a pleading; also, as in conveyancing, a clause by which the grantor excepts something before granted. Burrill.
4. An objection; cavil; dissent; disapprobation; offense; cause of offense; -- usually followed by to or against.
I will never answer what exceptions they can have against our account [relation].
Bentley.
He . . . took exception to the place of their burial.
Bacon.
She takes exceptions at your person.
Shak.
Bill of exceptions (Law), a statement of exceptions to the decision, or instructions of a judge in the trial of a cause, made for the purpose of putting the points decided on record so as to bring them before a superior court or the full bench for review.
Ex*cep"tion*a*ble (?), a. Liable to exception or objection; objectionable. -- Ex*cep"tion*a*ble*ness, n.
This passage I look upon to be the most exceptionable in the whole poem.
Addison.
Ex*cep"tion*al (?), a. [Cf. F. exceptionnel.] Forming an exception; not ordinary; uncommon; rare; hence, better than the average; superior. Lyell.
This particular spot had exceptional advantages.