Verb
- 1. apologize, apologise, excuse, justify, rationalize, rationalise, defend, support, fend for
- usage: defend, explain, clear away, or make excuses for by reasoning; "rationalize the child's seemingly crazy behavior"; "he rationalized his lack of success"
- 2. cut, prune, rationalize, rationalise, extinguish, eliminate, get rid of, do away with
- usage: weed out unwanted or unnecessary things; "We had to lose weight, so we cut the sugar from our diet"
- 3. rationalize, rationalise, organize, organise
- usage: structure and run according to rational or scientific principles in order to achieve desired results; "We rationalized the factory's production and raised profits"
- 4. rationalize, rationalise, think, cogitate, cerebrate
- usage: think rationally; employ logic or reason; "When one wonders why one is doing certain things, one should rationalize"
- 5. rationalize, rationalise, change, alter, modify
- usage: remove irrational quantities from; "This function can be rationalized"
WordNet 3.0 Copyright © 2006 by Princeton University.
All rights reserved.Definition and meaning of rationalize (Dictionary)