Lexic.us

Definition of Justify

1. Verb. Show to be reasonable or provide adequate ground for. "The end justifies the means"

2. Verb. Show to be right by providing justification or proof. "Vindicate a claim"

3. Verb. Defend, explain, clear away, or make excuses for by reasoning. "He rationalized his lack of success"

4. Verb. Let off the hook. "I absolve you from this responsibility"

5. Verb. Adjust the spaces between words. "Justify the margins"

Definition of Justify

1. v. t. To prove or show to be just; to vindicate; to maintain or defend as conformable to law, right, justice, propriety, or duty.

2. v. i. To form an even surface or true line with something else; to fit exactly.

3. v. t. 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.

Definition of Justify

1. Verb. (transitive) To provide an acceptable explanation for. ¹

2. Verb. (transitive) To be a good, acceptable reason for; warrant. ¹

3. Verb. (transitive) To arrange (text) on a page or a computer screen such that the left and right ends of all lines within paragraphs are aligned. ¹

4. Verb. (transitive) To absolve, and declare to be free of blame or sin ¹

¹ Source: wiktionary.com

Definition of Justify

1. to show to be just, right, or valid [v -FIED, -FYING, -FIES]

Medical Definition of Justify

1. 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. 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. 5. To make even or true, as lines of type, by proper spacing; to adjust, as type. See Justification. Synonym: To defend, maintain, vindicate, excuse, exculpate, absolve, exonerate. Origin: F. Justifier, L. Justificare; justus just + -ficare (in comp) to make. See Just, and -fy. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998)

Lexicographical Neighbors of Justify

justifiably justification justifications justificative justificator justificators justificatory justifie justified justifiedly

justifiedness justifier justifiers justifies justifieth justify (current term) justifying justifying space justifying spaces justing

justinian justle justled justles justling justly justness justnesses justo major justo minor

Literary usage of Justify

Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:

1. United States Supreme Court Reports by Lawyers Co-operative Publishing Company, United States Supreme Court (1912)
"... this court cannot inquire, unless upon some bill of exceptions properly taken whether the evidence was sufficient to justify the Undine of the court. ..."

2. Institutes of the Christian Religion by Jean Calvin (1844)
"... (w) but " all things shall work together for good " (x) to us, and conduce to our salvation. We do not justify men by works before God; but we say, ..."

3. Science by American Association for the Advancement of Science (1897)
"He maintains that commerce with the East would justify the cost and that high speed ... justify ..."

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