exculpate
EK-skul-paytverbMeaning to show that someone is not guilty
Memory hook EX-CULP: blame taken OUT. The camera shows the cat, not Ivy, knocking over the vase. The video takes the blame right out of Ivy’s hands: it exculpates her.
The video from the hallway camera exculpated Ivy: it showed the cat knocking over the vase.
In context New letters found in the archive exculpate the old mayor; they show that he had warned the council about the dam years before it broke.
Similar clear, exonerate, vindicate, acquit
Opposite incriminate, accuse, blame
From Medieval Latin exculpare, “to free from blame”: ex (out of) + culpa (blame).