Synonyms:
apologize, apologise, excuse, justify, rationalize, rationalise
Meaning: defend, explain, clear away, or make excuses for by reasoning; "rationalize the child's seemingly crazy behavior"; "he rationalized his lack of success"
Synonyms:
cut, prune, rationalize, rationalise
Meaning: weed out unwanted or unnecessary things; "We had to lose weight, so we cut the sugar from our diet"