All 3 Uses of
acquit
in
Bleak House
- The subject was a woman, whose husband was ignorantly convicted of having murdered her; but on solemn appeal to a higher court, he was acquitted because it was shown upon the evidence that she had died the death of which this name of spontaneous combustion is given.
Chpt Pref. (definition 1) *acquitted = officially found "not guilty"
- And Mr. Richard Carstone, who has so meritoriously acquitted himself in the—shall I say the classic shades?
Chpt 13-15 (definition 2) *acquitted = handled (conducted or behaved)
- We knew full well that her fervent heart was as full of affection and gratitude towards her cousin John as it had ever been, and we acquitted Richard of laying any injunctions upon her to stay away; but we knew on the other hand that she felt it a part of her duty to him to be sparing of her visits at our house.†
Chpt 58-60 (definition 1)
Definitions:
-
(1) (acquit as in: she was acquitted) to officially find "not guilty" of criminal chargeseditor's notes: Note that to be acquitted is not the same as being declared innocent of an offense due to the presumption of innocence in the American judicial system. The court determines if there is sufficient evidence to find someone guilty. Some crimes require a lot of evidence for a conviction, so while there may not be enough evidence to declare someone guilty beyond a shadow of a doubt, there also may not be enough evidence to declare a defendant innocent except through the presumption of innocence.
-
(2) (acquit as in: she acquitted herself well) to handle oneself in a specified way -- which is typically in a positive way