All 6 Uses of
acquit
in
Middlemarch
- ...but her husband's way of commenting on the strangely impressive objects around them had begun to affect her with a sort of mental shiver: he had perhaps the best intention of acquitting himself worthily, but only of acquitting himself.
Chpt 2 (definition 1) *acquitting = handling (conducting or behaving)
- How far the judicious Hooker or any other hero of erudition would have been the same at Mr. Casaubon's time of life, she had no means of knowing, so that he could not have the advantage of comparison; but her husband's way of commenting on the strangely impressive objects around them had begun to affect her with a sort of mental shiver: he had perhaps the best intention of acquitting himself worthily, but only of acquitting himself.†
Chpt 2 (definition 2)
- Times had altered since then, and no sonneteer had insisted on Mr. Casaubon's leaving a copy of himself; moreover, he had not yet succeeded in issuing copies of his mythological key; but he had always intended to acquit himself by marriage, and the sense that he was fast leaving the years behind him, that the world was getting dimmer and that he felt lonely, was a reason to him for losing no more time in overtaking domestic delights before they too were left behind by the years.†
Chpt 3 (definition 2)
- And the deeper he went in domesticity the more did the sense of acquitting himself and acting with propriety predominate over any other satisfaction.†
Chpt 3 (definition 2)
- …been fatal to him—true that if he had had the thousand pounds still in his hands with all his debts unpaid he would have returned the money to Bulstrode, and taken beggary rather than the rescue which had been sullied with the suspicion of a bribe (for, remember, he was one of the proudest among the sons of men)—nevertheless, he would not turn away from this crushed fellow-mortal whose aid he had used, and make a pitiful effort to get acquittal for himself by howling against another.†
Chpt 8 (definition 2) *
- Even if a man has been acquitted by a jury, they'll talk, and nod and wink—and as far as the world goes, a man might often as well be guilty as not.
Chpt 8 (definition 2)acquitted = officially found "not guilty"
Definitions:
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(1) (acquit as in: she acquitted herself well) to handle oneself in a specified way -- which is typically in a positive way
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(2) (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.