DICT.TW Dictionary Taiwan

 Ab·solve v. t. [imp. & p. p. Absolved p. pr. & vb. n. Absolving.]
 1. To set free, or release, as from some obligation, debt, or responsibility, or from the consequences of guilt or such ties as it would be sin or guilt to violate; to pronounce free; as, to absolve a subject from his allegiance; to absolve an offender, which amounts to an acquittal and remission of his punishment.
    Halifax was absolved by a majority of fourteen.   --Macaulay.
 2. To free from a penalty; to pardon; to remit (a sin); -- said of the sin or guilt.
    In his name I absolve your perjury.   --Gibbon.
 3. To finish; to accomplish. [Obs.]
    The work begun, how soon absolved.   --Milton.
 4. To resolve or explain. [Obs.] “We shall not absolve the doubt.”
    --Sir T. Browne.
 Syn: -- To Absolve, Exonerate, Acquit.
 Usage: We speak of a man as absolved from something that binds his conscience, or involves the charge of wrongdoing; as, to absolve from allegiance or from the obligation of an oath, or a promise. We speak of a person as exonerated, when he is released from some burden which had rested upon him; as, to exonerate from suspicion, to exonerate from blame or odium. It implies a purely moral acquittal. We speak of a person as acquitted, when a decision has been made in his favor with reference to a specific charge, either by a jury or by disinterested persons; as, he was acquitted of all participation in the crime.
 ◄ ►