forgive

for|give [ fər`gıv ] (past tense for|gave [ fər`geıv ] ; past participle for|giv|en [ fər`gıvn ] ) verb transitive **

1. ) to decide that you will not be angry with someone who has offended, upset, or harmed you:

His children have never fully forgiven him.

forgive someone for doing something: She eventually forgave him for forgetting her birthday.

forgive yourself: John has never forgiven himself for the accident.

forgive someone something: They're nice boys, so we tend to forgive them their occasional bouts of bad behavior.

2. ) BUSINESS if a country or bank forgives a DEBT, they decide that the debt does not have to be paid back: CANCEL

someone could be forgiven for thinking/wondering/believing, etc.

used for saying that it is not surprising that someone thinks or believes something, even though they are wrong to do so:

Voters could be forgiven for thinking that the major parties have no policies at all for the environment.

forgive and forget

to decide not to continue being angry about something someone has done, and not to allow your memory of it to influence your future relationship

forgive me (for doing something)/forgive my doing something SPOKEN

used when you want to say or do something that may offend the person you are talking to:

Forgive me, but I must leave now.

Forgive me for asking, but how much did you pay for that vase?