Definition of "exonerate" []

• To free from blame. (verb-transitive)
• To free from a responsibility, obligation, or task. (verb-transitive)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "If the bomb had exploded, how many of us then would be able to bear the fury of the backlash, which would fall not only on Yemen or "al-Qaeda" but equally if not more so on anyone attempting to "exonerate" them by suggesting "outrageous conspiracy theories" such as the possibility of an inside job?"
• "I don't want to "exonerate" these characters from their pasts, or even exonerate those who created them."
• "He also questioned the authenticity of a Gujarat-based government forensic laboratory's report that, he said, helped to "exonerate" Dhumal in the audio CD controversy."