N. vindication, justification, warrant, # exoneration, exculpation, acquittal, whitewashing, extenuation, palliation, palliative, softening, mitigation, reply, defense, recrimination, apology, gloss, varnish, plea, salvo, excuse, extenuating circumstances, allowance, allowance to be made, locus paenitentiae, apologist, vindicator, justifier, defendant, justifiable charge, true bill, v, justify, warrant, be an excuse, for, lend a color, furnish a handle, vindicate, exculpate, disculpate, acquit, clear, set right, exonerate, whitewash, clear the skirts of, extenuate, palliate, excuse, soften, apologize, varnish, slur, gloze, put a gloss, put a good face upon, mince, gloss over, bolster up, help a lame dog over a stile, advocate, defend, plead one's cause, stand up for, stick up for, speak up for, contend for, speak for, bear out, keep in countenance, support, plead &c, 617, say in defense, plead ignorance, confess and avoid, propugn, put in a good word for, take the will for the deed, make allowance for, give credit for, do justice to, give one his due, give the devil his due, make good, prove the truth of, prove one's case, be justified by the event

Adj. vindicated, vindicating, exculpatory, apologetic, excusable, defensible, pardonable, venial, veniable, specious, plausible, justifiable

Phr. "honi sot qui mal y pense", "good wine needs no bush."

N. accusation, charge, imputation, slur, inculpation, exprobration, delation, crimination, incrimination, accrimination, recrimination, tu quoque argument, invective, denunciation, denouncement, libel, challenge, citation, arraignment, impeachment, appeachment, indictment, bill of indictment, true bill, lawsuit, condemnation, gravamen of a charge, head and front of one's offending, argumentum ad hominem, scandal, scandalum magnatum, accuser, prosecutor, plaintiff, relator, informer, appellant, accused, defendant, prisoner, perpetrator, panel, respondent, litigant

V. accuse, charge, tax, impute, twit, taunt with, reproach, brand with reproach, stigmatize, slur, cast a stone at, cast a slur on, incriminate, criminate, inculpate, implicate, call to account, take to blame, take to task, put in the black book, inform against, indict, denounce, arraign, impeach, appeach, have up, show up, pull up, challenge, cite, lodge a complaint, prosecute, bring an action against, blow upon, charge with, saddle with, lay to one's door, lay charge, lay the blame on, bring home to, cast in one's teeth, throw in one's teeth, cast the first stone at, have a rod in pickle for, keep a rod in pickle for, have a crow to pluck with, trump up a charge

Adj. accusing, accusatory, accusative, imputative, denunciatory, recriminatory, criminatory, accused, suspected, under suspicion, under a cloud, under surveillance, in custody, in detention, in the lockup, in the watch house, in the house of detention, accusable, imputable, indefensible, inexcusable, unpardonable, unjustifiable, vicious

Phr. "the breath of accusation kills an innocent name", "thou can'st not say i did it", 3, moral conditions

Int. look at home, tu quoque

N. lawsuit, suit, action, cause, litigation, suit in # law, dispute, citation, arraignment, prosecution, impeachment, accusation, presentment, true bill, indictment, apprehension, arrest, committal, imprisonment, writ, summons, subpoena, latitat, nisi prius, venire, venire facias pleadings, declaration, bill, claim, proces verbal, bill of right, information, corpus delicti, affidavit, state of facts, answer, reply, replication, plea, demurrer, rebutter, rejoinder, surrebutter, surrejoinder, suitor, party to a suit, plaintiff, defendant, litigant, hearing, trial, verdict, appeal, appeal motion, writ of error, certiorari, case, decision, precedent, decided case, reports (legal reference works, see reference books)

V. go to law, appeal to the law, bring to justice, bring to trial, bring to the bar, put on trial, pull up, accuse, prefer a claim, file a claim, take the law of, inform against, serve with a writ, cite, apprehend, arraign, sue, prosecute, bring an action against, indict, impeach, attach, distrain, commit, arrest, summon, summons, give in charge, empanel a jury, implead, join issue, close the pleadings, set down for hearing, try, hear a cause, sit in judgment, adjudicate

Adj. litigious, qui tam, coram judice, sub judice

Adv. pendente lite

Phr. adhuc sub judice lis est, accedas ad curiam, transeat in exemplum