Learn English – Opposite of “implicate”

antonyms

What might be a good antonym of implicate in the context of troubleshooting an engineering problem? I can think of exonerate and vindicate but both sound more about crime than to refer to a component previously thought to introduce a design flaw in the overall system.

Best Answer

Rule out, clear, and eliminate are terms commonly so used. Also checked.

Related phrases are no help and no joy. For example, in a tech's logbook one is more likely to read things like "Swapped EC board, no help. Swapped TF board, still no joy" than like "Swapped EC board and ruled it out. Swapped TF board and ruled it out". I suppose no help to be a severe ellipsis of It provided no help.

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