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From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Justify \Jus"ti*fy\, verb (used with an object) [imp. & p. p. {Justified}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Justifying}.] [F. justifier, L. justificare; justus just + -ficare (in comp.) to make. See {Just}, adjective, and {-fy}.]
1. To prove or show to be just; to vindicate; to maintain or defend as conformable to law, right, justice, propriety, or duty.
That to the height of this great argument I may assert eternal providence, And justify the ways of God to men. --Milton.
Unless the oppression is so extreme as to justify revolution, it would not justify the evil of breaking up a government. --E. Everett.
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.
I can not justify whom the law condemns. --Shak.
3. (Theol.) To treat as if righteous and just; to pardon; to exculpate; to absolve.
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.
4. To prove; to ratify; to confirm. [Obs.] --Shak.
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.
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.
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Justify \Jus"ti*fy\, verb (used without an object)
1. (Print.) To form an even surface or true line with something else; to fit exactly.
2. (Law) To take oath to the ownership of property sufficient to qualify one's self as bail or surety.
From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:
justify
verb
1: show to be reasonable or provide adequate ground for; "The emergency does not warrant all of us buying guns"; "The end justifies the means" [syn: {warrant}]
2: show to be right by providing justification or proof; "vindicate a claim" [syn: {vindicate}]
3: defend, explain, clear away, or make excuses for by reasoning; "rationalize the child's seemingly crazy behavior"; "he rationalized his lack of success" [syn: {apologize}, {apologise}, {excuse}, {rationalize}, {rationalise}]
4: let off the hook; "I absolve you from this responsibility" [syn: {absolve}, {free}] [ant: {blame}]
5: adjust the spaces between words; "justify the margins" [also: {justified}]
From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:
82 Moby Thesaurus words for "justify": absolve, account, account for, acquit, allow, amnesty, approve, argue, assert, authenticate, authorize, back, bear out, claim, clear, compose, confirm, contend, corroborate, cry sour grapes, decontaminate, defend, demonstrate, destigmatize, discharge, dismiss, dispense from, do justice to, exculpate, excuse, exempt, exempt from, exonerate, explain, explain away, extenuate, forgive, free, give absolution, gloss, grant amnesty to, grant immunity, grant remission, impose, legalize, legitimate, legitimatize, legitimize, let go, let off, make up, nonpros, overrun, palliate, pardon, permit, pi, pi a form, prove, purge, quash the charge, rationalize, rehabilitate, reinstate, release, remit, restore, sanction, set, set free, set in print, shrive, substantiate, support, sustain, uphold, validate, verify, vindicate, warrant, whitewash, withdraw the charge
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