Excuses one under five running through Smiths (8)
I believe the answer is:
forgives
'excuses' is the definition.
(I've seen this in another clue)
'one under five running through smiths' is the wordplay.
'one' becomes 'i' (Roman numeral).
'under' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'five' becomes 'V' (Roman numeral).
'running through' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'smiths' becomes 'forges' (I am not sure about this - if you are sure you should believe this answer much more).
'i'+'v'='iv'
'iv' going within 'forges' is 'FORGIVES'.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for forgives that I've seen before include "Pardons" , "No longer wishes to punish for offence" .)