(từ cũ, nghĩa cũ) to report;  to inform;  to notify
He lost his ID card, but for reasons best known to himself, he didn't inform/notify the police
To report the loss of one's motorcycle to the police
reason;  pretext;  excuse
A rod/stick to beat somebody with
It's just a pretext/an excuse!
Just make up some excuse!;  Just  invent some excuse!