Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- intransitive verb To impose a duty, responsibility, or obligation on.
- intransitive verb To instruct or urge authoritatively; command.
- intransitive verb Law To instruct (a jury) about the law, its application, and the weighing of evidence.
- intransitive verb To set or ask (a given amount) as a price.
- intransitive verb To hold financially liable; demand payment from.
- intransitive verb To purchase on credit.
- intransitive verb To load to capacity; fill.
- intransitive verb To load (a gun or other firearm) with a quantity of explosive.
- intransitive verb To pervade or fill, as with a feeling or quality.
- intransitive verb To make a claim of wrongdoing against; accuse or blame.
- intransitive verb To put the blame for; attribute or impute.
- intransitive verb To rush against in an attack.
- intransitive verb Basketball To bump or run into (a defender) illegally while in possession of the ball or having just made a pass or shot.
- intransitive verb Sports To bump (an opponent) so as to knock off balance or gain control of the ball, as in soccer.
- intransitive verb Sports To body-check (an opponent) illegally, from behind or after taking more than two strides, especially in ice hockey.
- intransitive verb To cause formation of a net electric charge on or in (a conductor, for example).
- intransitive verb To energize (a storage battery) by passing current through it in the direction opposite to discharge.
- intransitive verb To excite; rouse.
- intransitive verb To direct or put (a weapon) into position for use; level or direct.
- intransitive verb Heraldry To place a charge on (an escutcheon).
- intransitive verb To rush forward in an attack.
- intransitive verb To rush forward; run.
- intransitive verb To demand or ask payment.
- intransitive verb To make a purchase or purchases on credit.
- intransitive verb Accounting To consider or record as a loss. Often used with off.
- intransitive verb To become energized.
- noun Expense; cost.
- noun The price asked for something.
- noun A debt or an entry in an account recording a debt.
- noun A financial burden, such as a tax or lien.
- noun A weight or burden; a load.
- noun The quantity that a container or apparatus can hold.
- noun A quantity of explosive to be set off at one time.
- noun An assigned duty or task; a responsibility.
- noun Care; custody.
- noun Supervision; management: synonym: care.
- noun One that is entrusted to another's care or management.
- noun An order, command, or injunction.
- noun Instruction given by a judge to a jury about the law, its application, and the weighing of evidence.
- noun A claim of wrongdoing; an accusation.
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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Verbs of _Condemning_ take -- a. The Genitive of the _charge_; as, -- pecūniae pūblicae condemnātus, _condemned (on the charge) of embezzlement_ (lit. _public money_); capitis damnātus, _condemned on a capital charge_ (lit. _on a charge involving his head_).
New Latin Grammar Charles E. Bennett
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Rechabites -- to the person whose charge they conceived so binding; and the nature and design of the charge_.
Sermons on Various Important Subjects Andrew Lee
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"Do not await a charge to-day," ordered San Martin; "_but charge_ always within fifty paces!"
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I remember very well once, when I was about your age, my mother had occasion to go out for half an hour, and she left me in charge of my little baby sister; she gave me a _charge_ not to let anything disturb her while she was away, and to keep her asleep if I could.
The Wide, Wide World Susan Warner 1852
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I remember very well once when I was about your age my mother had occasion to go out for half-an-hour, and she left me in charge of my little baby sister; she gave me a _charge_ not to let anything disturb her while she was away, and to keep her asleep if I could.
The Wide, Wide World Susan Warner 1852
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Directors contain _no charge, nor the slightest imputation of a charge_, against Mr. Fowke; _but I see no reason why the board should condescend to tell him so_. "
The Works of the Right Honourable Edmund Burke, Vol. 08 (of 12) Edmund Burke 1763
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The person in charge is a puppeteer and does a scary, funny, thrilling show.
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The glibness of even Sen. Collins 'assumptions that a "trigger" would be inevitably "pulled" by the bureaucrats in charge is typical GOP nonsense: Obviously, the "trigger" will require evaluation of hard data of insurance costs, etc.
Key senator rejects 'trigger' for public health insurance option 2009
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When you give the Federal Government the responsibility of deciding "how much does a man need?", then the party in charge is going to favor its constituents and shortchange its opponents.
Tom McIntyre Explains His Picks for our 2009 Hunting and Fishing Heroes and Villians Face-Off 2009
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I hope you are right – some are already wringing their hands and saying the dems will lose the House this fall — the thought of Boehner in charge is making me sick to my stomach.
chained_bear commented on the word charge
In heraldry, any device ‘charged’ or borne upon an escutcheon; a bearing.
Usage: Chaucers armes are not so meane, eyther for coolour, chardge, or particione as some will make them. (1599)
February 5, 2007
oroboros commented on the word charge
A contranym: charge--add to and charge--take away (as a fee, from your non-plethorous, underachieving wallet).
February 17, 2007
Telofy commented on the word charge
“If the Fliers are human,” Silk admonished his charges, “it would surely be evil to stone them. If they are not, you must consider that they may be higher than we are in the spiritual whorl, just as they are in the temporal.” —Gene Wolfe, The Book of the Long Sun
July 29, 2009
hernesheir commented on the word charge
(v.) filling a mooshine still or the thumper with beer or pumice.
August 26, 2009