alibi Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun (law) a defense by an accused person purporting to show that he or she could not have committed the crime in question
  2. noun a defense of some offensive behavior or some failure to keep a promise etc.
    excuse; exculpation; self-justification.
    • he kept finding excuses to stay
    • every day he had a new alibi for not getting a job
    • his transparent self-justification was unacceptable
  3. verb exonerate by means of an alibi

WordNet

Al"i*bi noun
Etymology
L., elsewhere, at another place. See Alias.
Definitions
  1. (Law) The plea or mode of defense under which a person on trial for a crime proves or attempts to prove that he was in another place when the alleged act was committed; as, to set up an alibi; to prove an alibi.

Webster 1913