1. To clear (a person or thing) from suspicion, criticism, blame, or doubt (DNA tests vindicated the suspect).
2. To assert, maintain, or affirm (one’s interest) by action (the claimants sought to vindicate their rights through a class-action suit).
3. To defend (one’s interest) against interference or encroachment (the borrower vindicated its interest in court when the lender tried to foreclose).
4. Roman & civil law. To assert a legal right to (a thing); to seek recovery of (a thing) by legal process (Antony Honoratus attempted to vindicate the sword he had lent his cousin). — vindication, n. — vindicator, n.
