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# alibi

noun (an alibi, alibis)

«alibi» in the English dictionary: everyday — its meanings, how the lessons use it, and examples, each with its tree on Mova.

## Everyday

1. (law) An alibi is proof that a person was somewhere else when a crime happened, so they could not have done it. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/A/alibi/#m1)
2. (informal) An alibi is an excuse. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/A/alibi/#m2)

### In the lessons

In detective stories it is a key idea: the detective checks each suspect's alibi. In everyday talk it means any excuse. Phrases: a strong alibi, a cast-iron alibi, check an alibi.

### Examples

- The butler had an alibi: he was at the shop. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/A/alibi/#x1)
- The detective checked every suspect's alibi. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/A/alibi/#x2)
- Her alibi was proved false by the CCTV. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/A/alibi/#x3)
- "I was with my gran" was his alibi. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/A/alibi/#x4)
- My alibi for being late was the bus. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/A/alibi/#x5)
- A cast-iron alibi cannot be broken. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/A/alibi/#x6)

### Note

Countable: alibis. From Latin for "elsewhere". Said AL-i-bye.

## On Mova

- [Trees and pragmatics of «alibi» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/A/alibi/): every meaning and example parsed by Mova, with its dependency tree and frames.
- [«alibi» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/w/alibi.html) on Mova free.