v.
- demand (an amount) as a price for a service rendered or goods supplied.
- formally accuse (someone) of something, especially an offence under law.
- entrust with a task or responsibility.
- store electrical energy in (a battery or battery-operated device).
- technical or formal load or fill (a container, gun, etc.) to the full or proper extent.
▸fill with a quality or emotion:
the air was charged with menace.
- rush forward in attack.
▸move quickly and forcefully.
- Heraldry place a charge on.
n.
- a price asked.
▸a financial liability or commitment.
- a formal accusation made against a prisoner brought to trial.
- responsibility for care or control.
▸a person or thing entrusted to someone's care.
- the property of matter that is responsible for electrical phenomena, existing in a positive or negative form.
▸the quantity of this carried by a body.
▸energy stored chemically in a battery for conversion into electricity.
- a quantity of explosive to be detonated in order to fire a gun or similar weapon.
- a headlong rush forward, typically in attack.
- an official instruction given by a judge to a jury regarding points of law.
- Heraldry a device or bearing placed on a shield or crest.
Phrase
- press
(or prefer)
charges
accuse someone formally of a crime so that they can be brought to trial. - put someone on a charge
Brit. charge someone with a specified offence.
Derivative
- chargeable adj.
- charged adj.
Etymology
ME, from OFr. charger (v.), charge (n.), from late L. carricare, carcare ‘to load’, from L. carrus ‘wheeled vehicle’.