To bring (into freedom); set (free).To vindicate, maintain, or defend by words or measures; support the cause or claims of; vindicate a claim or title to: now used only of immaterial objects or reflexively: as, to assert our rights and liberties; he asserted himself boldly.To state as true; affirm; asseverate; aver; declare.Syn. 2. Assert, Defend, Maintain, Vindicate, Assert supports a cause or claim aggressively: its meaning is well brought out in the expression, assert yourself; that is, make your influence felt. To defend is primarily to drive back assaults. To maintain is to hold up to the full amount, defending from diminution: as, to maintain the ancient customs, liberties, rights. To vindicate is to rescue, as from diminution, dishonor, or censure: as, to “vindicate the ways of God to man,”Assert, Affirm, Declare, Aver, Asseverate (see declare), allege, protest, avow, lay down. (See protest.) Assert seems to expect doubt or contradiction of what one says. Affirm strengthens a statement by resting it upon one's reputation for knowledge or veracity: as, “she constantly affirmed that it was even so,” Acts xii. 15. Declare makes public, clear, or emphatic, especially against contradiction. Aver is positive and peremptory. Asseverate is positive and solemn.