Exception

/əkˈsɛpʃən/ · noun

Meaning

The act of excepting or excluding; exclusion; restriction by taking out something which would otherwise be included, as in a class, statement, rule..

Definitions by Sense

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 excluded from others; a person, thing, or case, specified as distinct, or not included.
3. (law) An objection, on legal grounds; also, as in conveyancing, a clause by which the grantor excepts or reserves something before the right is transferred.
4. (usually followed by to or against) An objection; cavil; dissent; disapprobation; offense; cause of offense.
5. (programming) An interruption in normal processing, typically caused by an error condition, that can be raised ("thrown") by one part of the program and handled ("caught") by another part.
6. (programming, intransitive, informal, rare) To throw an exception.

Example Sentences

the exception of a rule

That rule is usually true, but there are a few exceptions.

The Thirteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution had abolished slavery but allowed one major exception: slavery remained appropriate as punishment for a crime.

null pointer exception

Synonyms for exception

Antonyms for exception

Related Words

Word Forms

• exceptions
• exceptioning
• exceptioned

Usage Notes

Choose a synonym only when it preserves the intended meaning, tone, and grammar of the full sentence.

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