From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):
rationalize
v 1: defend, explain, clear away, or make excuses for by
reasoning; "rationalize the child's seemingly crazy
behavior"; "he rationalized his lack of success" [syn:
apologize, apologise, excuse, justify,
rationalize, rationalise]
2: weed out unwanted or unnecessary things; "We had to lose
weight, so we cut the sugar from our diet" [syn: cut,
prune, rationalize, rationalise]
3: structure and run according to rational or scientific
principles in order to achieve desired results; "We
rationalized the factory's production and raised profits"
[syn: rationalize, rationalise]
4: think rationally; employ logic or reason; "When one wonders
why one is doing certain things, one should rationalize"
[syn: rationalize, rationalise]
5: remove irrational quantities from; "This function can be
rationalized" [syn: rationalize, rationalise]