give\ the\ benefit\ of\ the\ doubt

give\ the\ benefit\ of\ the\ doubt
v. phr.
To believe (a person) is innocent rather than guilty when you are not sure.

The money was stolen and John was the only boy who had known where it was, but the teacher gave him the benefit of the doubt.

George's grade was higher than usual and he might have cheated, but his teacher gave him the benefit of the doubt.

See: give the bounce(1)

Словарь американских идиом. — СПб., Изд-во "Лань". . 1997.

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  • give the benefit of the doubt — give (someone/something) the benefit of the doubt to decide you will believe someone or something. People tell me I shouldn t trust him, but I m willing to give Simon the benefit of the doubt and wait and see what he actually offers. The American …   New idioms dictionary

  • give the benefit of the doubt — give (someone) the benefit of the doubt to believe something good about someone, rather than something bad, when you have the possibility of doing either. After hearing his explanation, I was prepared to give him the benefit of the doubt …   New idioms dictionary

  • give the benefit of the doubt — {v. phr.} To believe (a person) is innocent rather than guilty when you are not sure. * /The money was stolen and John was the only boy who had known where it was, but the teacher gave him the benefit of the doubt./ * /George s grade was higher… …   Dictionary of American idioms

  • give the benefit of the doubt — {v. phr.} To believe (a person) is innocent rather than guilty when you are not sure. * /The money was stolen and John was the only boy who had known where it was, but the teacher gave him the benefit of the doubt./ * /George s grade was higher… …   Dictionary of American idioms

  • give someone the benefit of the doubt — give (someone/something) the benefit of the doubt to decide you will believe someone or something. People tell me I shouldn t trust him, but I m willing to give Simon the benefit of the doubt and wait and see what he actually offers. The American …   New idioms dictionary

  • give something the benefit of the doubt — give (someone/something) the benefit of the doubt to decide you will believe someone or something. People tell me I shouldn t trust him, but I m willing to give Simon the benefit of the doubt and wait and see what he actually offers. The American …   New idioms dictionary

  • give someone the benefit of the doubt — give (someone) the benefit of the doubt to believe something good about someone, rather than something bad, when you have the possibility of doing either. After hearing his explanation, I was prepared to give him the benefit of the doubt …   New idioms dictionary

  • give somebody the benefit of the doubt — give sb the ˌbenefit of the ˈdoubt idiom to accept that sb has told the truth or has not done sth wrong because you cannot prove that they have not • She may have been lying, but I felt I had to give her the benefit of the doubt. Main entry:… …   Useful english dictionary

  • give someone the benefit of the doubt — phrase to treat someone as if their behaviour is honest or correct, even though you are not certain that it is Thesaurus: to depend on or trust someone or somethingsynonym Main entry: benefit …   Useful english dictionary

  • the benefit of the doubt — a concession that a person or fact must be regarded as correct or justified, if the contrary has not been proven I ll give you the benefit of the doubt as to whether it was deliberate or not * * * the benefit of the doubt ◇ When people give you… …   Useful english dictionary

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