Jon (jlachney)

Vindicate - to redeem, to free from blame, to avenge. After the long and arduous process of questioning every student who had seen the incident, he was vindicated because the boys had outnumbered him three to one, and it was a legitimate exercise of self-defense. Surreptitious - secret, done in a stealthy or unauthorized way. They made the decision after a surreptitious investigation into their competitor's strategy.