sb. formerly adv. [a. L. alibi elsewhere, in another place, old locative case of alius another.]
ǁ A. adv. Elsewhere.
1727. Arbuthnot, John Bull, 70. The prisoner had little to say in his defence; he endeavoured to prove himself Alibi.
1777. Erskine, Institutes (ed. 5), IV. 499. The defender will be allowed to proue, that … he was alibi.
b. attrib. quasi-adj.
1858. Thackeray, Virginians, xxxv. (1878), 275. Women are not so easily cured by the alibi treatment.
B. sb. The plea of having been elsewhere at the time when any alleged act took place.
1774. Ann. Reg. (1778), XVII. 135/2. Clearer proofs of an alibi than can frequently be produced.
1855. Macaulay, Hist. Eng., IV. 523. For some of the prisoners an alibi was set up.
1862. Sat. Rev., 15 March, 291. They have got to establish alibis for her.
