Vin"di*cate (?), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Vindicated (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Vindicating.] [L. vindicatus, p. p. of vindicare to lay claim to, defend, avenge. See Vengeance.] 1. To lay claim to; to assert a right to; to claim. [R.]
Is thine alone the seed that strews the plain?
The birds of heaven shall vindicate their grain.
Pope.
2. To maintain or defend with success; to prove to be valid; to assert convincingly; to sustain against assault; as, to vindicate a right, claim, or title.
3. To support or maintain as true or correct, against denial, censure, or objections; to defend; to justify.
When the respondent denies any proposition, the opponent must directly vindicate . . . that proposition.
I. Watts.
Laugh where we must, be candid where we can,
But vindicate the ways of God to man.
Pope.
4. To maintain, as a law or a cause, by overthrowing enemies.
Milton.
5. To liberate; to set free; to deliver. [Obs.]
I am confident he deserves much more
That vindicates his country from a tyrant
Than he that saves a citizen.
Massinger.
6. To avenge; to punish; as, a war to vindicate or punish infidelity. [Obs.]
Bacon.
God is more powerful to exact subjection and to vindicate rebellion.
Bp. Pearson.
Syn. -- To assert; maintain; claim. See Assert.
© Webster 1913. | 
