Vindicate /(?)/

imp. & p. p. Vindicated; p. pr. & vb. n. Vindicating

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.

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.

   Laugh where we must, be candid where we can, But vindicate the ways of God to man.

4. To maintain, as a law or a cause, by overthrowing enemies.
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.

6. To avenge; to punish; as, a war to vindicate or punish infidelity. [Obs.]

   God is more powerful to exact subjection and to vindicate rebellion.