English Reference
verb

exclude

v.
US /ɪkˈskɫud/ UK /ɛksklˈuːd/ ex·clude UK spelling excludes

  1. 01 B2 Upper Intermediate

    to prevent someone or something from entering a place or joining a group.

    to bar someone or something from entering a physical space or participating in an activity.

    Simple

    The club decided to exclude anyone who was not a local resident.

    In context

    The security protocols were designed to exclude unauthorised personnel from the server room while allowing seamless access for the maintenance team.

    Usage

    Often used with the preposition 'from'.

  2. 02 B2 Upper Intermediate Academic

    to leave something out of a plan, list, or calculation.

    to deliberately omit a factor, person, or item from a set of considerations or data.

    Simple

    The researchers had to exclude some results because the data was not complete.

    In context

    When calculating the average salary, the analysts chose to exclude the highest and lowest earners to avoid skewing the final figures.

  3. 03 C1 Advanced Technical Medicine

    to decide that something is not the cause of a problem or is not possible.

    to eliminate a hypothesis or diagnosis from consideration based on evidence.

    Simple

    The doctor ran several tests to exclude the possibility of a serious infection.

    In context

    Before proceeding with the surgery, the medical team performed a series of scans to exclude any underlying vascular complications.

  4. 04 C1 Advanced FormalTechnical Law

    to refuse to allow certain information to be used in a court of law.

    to rule that specific evidence is inadmissible in a legal proceeding.

    Simple

    The judge decided to exclude the witness's statement because it was not reliable.

    In context

    The defence filed a motion to exclude the forensic evidence, arguing that the chain of custody had been compromised during the investigation.

    disallowreject

Usage completely exclude · exclude source · largely exclude

The monitor's model only includes official statistics from 23 European countries and excludes part of the continent's east.

Phys.org· 22 Aug 2026

Borrowed from Latin exclūdō, from prefix ex- (“out”) + variant form of verb claudō (“close”).

Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

This entry
Origin Latin exclūdō
Level B2 · Upper Intermediate
Frequency Frequent
Updated