Jus·ti·fy v. t. [imp. & p. p. Justified p. pr. & vb. n. Justifying ]
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.]
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.
The production of bail in court, who there justify themselves against the exception of the plaintiff. --Bouvier's Law Dict.
Syn: -- To defend; maintain; vindicate; excuse; exculpate; absolve; exonerate.