prep. With the exclusion of; other than; but: everyone except me.
conj.- If it were not for the fact that; only. Often used with that: I would buy the suit, except that it costs too much.
- Otherwise than: They didn't open their mouths except to complain.
- Unless: “And ne'er throughout the year to church thou go'st/Except it be to pray against thy foes†(Shakespeare).
v., -cept·ed, -cept·ing, -cepts. v.tr. To leave out; exclude: An admission fee is charged, but children are excepted.
v.intr. To object: Counsel excepted to the court's ruling.
idiom:except for
- Were it not for: I would join you except for my cold.
[Middle English, from Latin exceptus, past participle of excipere, to exclude : ex-, ex- + capere, to take.]
USAGE NOTE Except in the sense of “with the exclusion of†or “other than†is generally viewed as a preposition, not a conjunction. Therefore, a personal pronoun that follows except should be in the objective case: No one except me knew it. Everyone had a ticket except her.