v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Excepted; p. pr. & vb. n. Excepting. ] [ L. exceptus, p. p. of excipere to take or draw out, to except; ex out + capere to take: cf. F. excepter. See Capable. ] 1. To take or leave out (anything) from a number or a whole as not belonging to it; to exclude; to omit. [ 1913 Webster ]

Who never touched
The excepted tree. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

Wherein (if we only except the unfitness of the judge) all other things concurred. Bp. Stillingfleet. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To object to; to protest against. [ Obs. ] Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. To take exception; to object; -- usually followed by to, sometimes by against; as, to except to a witness or his testimony. [ 1913 Webster ]

Except thou wilt except against my love. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

prep. [ Originally past participle, or verb in the imperative mode. ] With exclusion of; leaving or left out; excepting. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

conj. Unless; if it be not so that. [ 1913 Webster ]

And he said, I will not let thee go, except thou bless me. Gen. xxxii. 26. [ 1913 Webster ]

But yesterday you never opened lip,
Except, indeed, to drink. Tennyson. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ As a conjunction unless has mostly taken the place of except. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Making exception. [ 1913 Webster ]

prep. & conj., but properly a participle. With rejection or exception of; excluding; except. “Excepting your worship's presence.” Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

No one was ever yet made utterly miserable, excepting by himself. Lubbock. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

Such rare exceptions, shining in the dark,
Prove, rather than impeach, the just remark. Cowper. [ 1913 Webster ]

Often with to. [ 1913 Webster ]

That proud exception to all nature's laws. Pope. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. An objection; cavil; dissent; disapprobation; offense; cause of offense; -- usually followed by to or against. [ 1913 Webster ]

I will never answer what exceptions they can have against our account [ relation ]. Bentley. [ 1913 Webster ]

He . . . took exception to the place of their burial. Bacon. [ 1913 Webster ]

She takes exceptions at your person. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Liable to exception or objection; objectionable. -- Ex*cep"tion*a*ble*ness, n. [1913 Webster]

This passage I look upon to be the most exceptionable in the whole poem. Addison. [1913 Webster]

a. [ Cf. F. exceptionnel. ] Forming an exception; not ordinary; uncommon; rare; hence, better than the average; superior. Lyell. [ 1913 Webster ]

This particular spot had exceptional advantages. Jowett (Th. )

-- Ex*cep"tion*al*lyadv. [1913 Webster]

n. One who takes exceptions or makes objections. [ Obs. ] Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]