ABSOLVING
Verb
absolving
present participle of absolve
Source: Wiktionary
ABSOLVE
Ab*solve" (#; 277), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Absolved; p. pr. & vb. n.
Absolving.] Etym: [L. absolvere to set free, to absolve; ab + solvere
to loose. See Assoil, Solve.]
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. 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.
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition