Collins COBUILD Advanced Learner's English Dictionary - except

Frequency: The word is one of the 1500 most common words in English. 1. You use except to introduce the only thing or person that a statement does not apply to, or a fact that prevents a statement from being completely true. I wouldn’t have accepted anything except a job in Europe... I don’t take any drugs whatsoever, except aspirin for colds... PREP • Except is also a conjunction. Freddie would tell me nothing about what he was writing, except that it was to be a Christmas play... CONJ: oft CONJ that/when/where/if 2. You use except for to introduce the only thing or person that prevents a statement from being completely true. He hadn’t eaten a thing except for one forkful of salad... Everyone was late, except for Richard. PREP-PHRASE