apologize, apologise, excuse, justify, rationalize, rationalise -- (defend, explain, clear away, or make excuses for by reasoning; "rationalize the child's seemingly crazy behavior"; "he rationalized his lack of success")
cut, prune, rationalize, rationalise -- (weed out unwanted or unnecessary things; "We had to lose weight, so we cut the sugar from our diet")
rationalize, rationalise -- (structure and run according to rational or scientific principles in order to achieve desired results; "We rationalized the factory's production and raised profits")
rationalize, rationalise -- (think rationally; employ logic or reason; "When one wonders why one is doing certain things, one should rationalize")
rationalize, rationalise -- (remove irrational quantities from; "This function can be rationalized")
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