Justify

Justify Jus"ti*fy, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Justified}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Justifying}.] [F. justifier, L. justificare; justus just + -ficare (in comp.) to make. See {Just}, a., and {-fy}.] [1913 Webster] 1. To prove or show to be just; to vindicate; to maintain or defend as conformable to law, right, justice, propriety, or duty. [1913 Webster]

That to the height of this great argument I may assert eternal providence, And justify the ways of God to men. --Milton. [1913 Webster]

Unless the oppression is so extreme as to justify revolution, it would not justify the evil of breaking up a government. --E. Everett. [1913 Webster]

2. To pronounce free from guilt or blame; to declare or prove to have done that which is just, right, proper, etc.; to absolve; to exonerate; to clear. [1913 Webster]

I can not justify whom the law condemns. --Shak. [1913 Webster]

3. (Theol.) To treat as if righteous and just; to pardon; to exculpate; to absolve. [1913 Webster]

By him all that believe are justified from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses. --Acts xiii. 39. [1913 Webster]

4. To prove; to ratify; to confirm. [Obs.] --Shak. [1913 Webster]

5. (Print.) To make even or true, as lines of type, by proper spacing; to align (text) at the left (left justify) or right (right justify) margins of a column or page, or at both margins; to adjust, as type. See {Justification}, 4. [1913 Webster]

6. (Law) (a) To show (a person) to have had a sufficient legal reason for an act that has been made the subject of a charge or accusation. (b) To qualify (one's self) as a surety by taking oath to the ownership of sufficient property. [Webster 1913 Suppl.]

The production of bail in court, who there justify themselves against the exception of the plaintiff. --Bouvier's Law Dict. [Webster 1913 Suppl.]

Syn: To defend; maintain; vindicate; excuse; exculpate; absolve; exonerate. [1913 Webster]