Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
Acquit
Ac-quit′
,p.
p.
Acquitted; set free; rid of.
[Archaic]
Shak.
Ac-quit′
,Verb.
T.
[
imp. & p. p.
Acquitted
; p. pr. & vb. n.
Acquitting
.] 1.
To discharge, as a claim or debt; to clear off; to pay off; to requite.
A responsibility that can never be absolutely
acquitted
. I. Taylor.
2.
To pay for; to atone for.
[Obs.]
Shak.
3.
To set free, release or discharge from an obligation, duty, liability, burden, or from an accusation or charge; – now followed by of before the charge, formerly by from;
as, the jury
acquitted
the prisoner; we acquit
a man of evil intentions.4.
Reflexively: (a)
To clear one’s self.
Shak.
(b)
To bear or conduct one's self; to perform one's part;
as, the soldier
acquitted
himself well in battle; the orator acquitted
himself very poorly.
Syn. – To absolve; clear; exonerate; exonerate; exculpate; release; discharge. See
Absolve
. Webster 1828 Edition
Acquit
ACQUIT'
,Verb.
T.
To set free; to release or discharge from an obligation, accusation, guilt, censure, suspicion, or whatever lies upon a person as a charge or duty; as, the jury acquitted the prisoner; we acquit a man of evil intentions. It is followed by of before the object; to acquit from is obsolete. In a reciprocal sense, as, the soldier acquitted himself well in battle, the word has a like sense, implying the discharge of a duty or obligation. Hence its use in expressing excellence in performance; as the orator acquitted himself well, that is, in a manner that his situation and public expectation demanded.