alibi
/ˈæl.ə.baɪ/
alibi noun: the plea or mode of defense under which a person on trial for a crime proves or attempts to prove being in another place when the alleged act was committed.
Noun
alibi (plural alibis)
- The plea or mode of defense under which a person on trial for a crime proves or attempts to prove being in another place when the alleged act was committed.
- to set up an alibi
- to prove an alibi
- An excuse, especially one used to avoid responsibility or blame.
- That day in September, I'm sure you can remember / That's when all the stuff hit the fan (the stuff hit the fan) / You told me a lie, and you didn't have an alibi / But baby, yet I still cared1984, Jocelyn Brown, “Somebody Else's Guy”, in Somebody Else's Guy
Verb
alibi (third-person singular simple present alibis or alibies, present participle alibiing, simple past and past participle alibied)
- To provide an alibi for.
- Bond laughed. 'What an organization!' he said. 'I'm sure it's all beautifully covered up and alibied. What a man! He certainly seems to have the run of this country.'1954, Ian Fleming, “Death of a Pelican”, in Live and Let Die, London: Pan Books, published 1957, page 132
- To provide an excuse for.
alibi meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu
alibi in Hindi
- अलिबी
alibi in Tamil
- அயலிடச் சான்று, பிறிதிடமிருப்புவாதம், வேற்றிடவாதம், பிறிதோரிடம், பிறிதோரிடத்தில்
alibi in Marathi
- criminal legal defense
- अन्यत्र उपस्थिति anyatra upasthiti
alibi in Urdu
- بہانہ, عذر عدم موجودگی
More languagesFewer languages
- alibi in Bengali
- আলিবি, অ্যালিবি, আলিবির কাছে
- alibi in Telugu
- అలిబి, అలిబికి, అలిబీకి
- alibi in Malayalam
- അന്യത്രവാസം
- alibi in Kannada
- ಅಲಿಬಿ alibi
- alibi in Punjabi
- ਅਲਿਬੀ, ਅਲੀਬੀ
- alibi in Gujarati
- અલિબી
- alibi in Odia
- ଆଲିବି, ଅଲିବି, ଆଲିବିକୁ
- alibi in Nepali
- अलिबी, अलिबीलाई
- alibi in Arabic
- دَفْع بِالْغَائِبَة dafʕ bi-l-ḡāʔiba, حُجَّة غِيَاب, عُذْر ʕuḏr
- alibi in Indonesian
- alibi
- alibi in Thai
- หลักฐานที่อยู่
- alibi in Vietnamese
- bằng chứng ngoại phạm, ngoại phạm, chứng cứ ngoại phạm
Examples of alibi in a sentence
- The judge said, “Son, what is your alibi?1959, Danny Dill and Marijohn Wilkin, “Long Black Veil”:
- Alibi is different from all of the other defenses . . . it is based upon the premise that the defendant is truly innocent.1988, Criminal Law Deskbook, →ISBN:
Forms of alibi
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | alibis |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | alibis |
| third-person singular present | alibies |
| present participle | alibiing |
| past participle | alibied |
| past | alibied |
Origin of alibi
From the 18th century, from Latin alibī (“elsewhere, at another place”, adverb). Probably after French alibi, which has this use since the late 14th century.
Words formed from alibi
Phrases with alibi
Questions about alibi
- What does alibi mean?
- Alibi means the plea or mode of defense under which a person on trial for a crime proves or attempts to prove being in another place when the alleged act was committed.
- What is alibi in Hindi?
- Alibi in Hindi is अलिबी. See Alibi meaning in Hindi.
- How do you use alibi in a sentence?
- The judge said, “Son, what is your alibi?
- What part of speech is alibi?
- Alibi can be a noun or a verb.
- How do you pronounce alibi?
- Alibi is pronounced /ˈæl.ə.baɪ/ (US).
- What is the plural of alibi?
- The plural of alibi is alibis.
Words near alibi in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: alibi (page history and authors); alibi (Hindi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); alibi (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); alibi (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); alibi (Bengali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); alibi (Telugu, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); alibi (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors); alibi (Punjabi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); alibi (Gujarati, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); alibi (Odia, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); alibi (Nepali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-alibi.ogg.
Cite this entry: “alibi.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/alibi. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.