From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishalibial‧i‧bi /ˈæləbaɪ/ ●○○ noun [countable] 1 PROVEsomething that proves that someone was not where a crime happened and therefore could not have done ita perfect/cast-iron/unshakeable etc alibi He had a perfect alibi and the police let him go.2 REASONan excuse for something you have failed to do or have done wrong
Examples from the Corpus
alibi• When an alibi was produced, they said the offence took place in May 1992.• An excellent alibi, too: no one would question the word of the esteemed Professor Summerlee.• And it was my lies to the police which had given him his non-existent alibi.• But he also walked through the 17-year history of his relationship with Nicole and every last detail of his alibi.• Nor did he review his alibi in any detail.• According to Ken Harris, she has a cast-iron alibi.• But it gives Tom an unimpeachable alibi.had ... alibi• Scamp had an airtight alibi, naturally, but then again young Leakey never said who exactly had done it.Origin alibi (1600-1700) Latin “somewhere else” 