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.