charge
charge (chärj)v. charged, charg·ing, charg·esv. tr. 1. To impose a duty, responsibility, or obligation on: charged him with the task of watching the young swimmers. 2. To set or ask (a given amount) as a price: charges ten dollars for a haircut. 3. To hold financially liable; demand payment from: charged her for the balance due. 4. To postpone payment on (a purchase) by recording as a debt: paid cash for the stockings but charged the new coat. 5. a. To load to capacity; fill: charge a furnace with coal. b. To saturate; impregnate: The atmosphere was charged with tension. 6. To load (a gun or other firearm) with a quantity of explosive: charged the musket with powder. 7. To instruct or urge authoritatively; command: charged her not to reveal the source of information. 8. Law. To instruct (a jury) about the law, its application, and the weighing of evidence. 9. To make a claim of wrongdoing against; accuse or blame: The police charged him with car theft. Critics charged the writer with a lack of originality. 10. To put the blame for; attribute or impute: charged the accident to the driver's inexperience. 11. To attack violently: The troops charged the enemy line. 12. Basketball. To bump or run into (a defender) illegally while in possession of the ball or having just made a pass or shot. 13. Sports. a. To bump (an opponent) so as to knock off balance or gain control of the ball, as in soccer. b. To body-check (an opponent) illegally, from behind or after taking more than two strides, as in ice hockey. 14. Electricity. a. To cause formation of a net electric charge on or in (a conductor, for example). b. To energize (a storage battery) by passing current through it in the direction opposite to discharge. 15. To excite; rouse: a speaker who knows how to charge up a crowd. 16. To direct or put (a weapon) into position for use; level. 17. Heraldry. To place a charge on (an escutcheon).v. intr. 1. To rush forward in or as if in a violent attack: dogs trained to charge at intruders; children charging through the house. 2. To demand or ask payment: did not charge for the second cup of coffee. 3. To postpone payment for a purchase. 4. Accounting. To consider or record as a loss. Often used with off.n. 1. a. Expense; cost. b. The price asked for something: no charge for window-shopping. 2. a. A weight or burden; a load: a freighter relieved of its charge of cargo. b. The quantity that a container or apparatus can hold. 3. A quantity of explosive to be set off at one time. 4. An assigned duty or task; a responsibility: The commission's charge was to determine the facts. 5. One that is entrusted to another's care or management: the baby sitter's three young charges. 6. a. Supervision; management: the scientist who had overall charge of the research project. b. Care; custody: a child put in my charge. 7. An order, command, or injunction. 8. Law. Instruction given by a judge to a jury about the law, its application, and the weighing of evidence. 9. A claim of wrongdoing; an accusation: a charge of murder; pleaded not guilty to the charges. 10. a. A rushing, forceful attack: repelled the charge of enemy troops; the charge of a herd of elephants. b. The command to attack: The bugler sounded the charge. 11. A debt or an entry in an account recording a debt: Are you paying cash or is this a charge? 12. A financial burden, such as a tax or lien. 13. Symbol q Physics. a. The intrinsic property of matter responsible for all electric phenomena, in particular for the force of the electromagnetic interaction, occurring in two forms arbitrarily designated negative and positive. b. A measure of this property. c. The net measure of this property possessed by a body or contained in a bounded region of space. 14. Informal. A feeling of pleasant excitement; a thrill: got a real charge out of the movie. 15. Heraldry. Any figure or device represented on the field of an escutcheon.Idioms:in charge 1. In a position of leadership or supervision: the security agent in charge at the airport. 2. Chiefly British Under arrest.in charge of Having control over or responsibility for: You're in charge of making the salad. [Middle English chargen, to load, from Old French chargier, from Late Latin carricāre, from Latin carrus, Gallic type of wagon, of Celtic origin. See kers- in Indo-European Roots.] Synonyms: charge, imbue, impregnate, permeate, pervade, saturate, suffuse These verbs mean to cause to be filled with a particular mood or tone: an atmosphere charged with excitement; poetry imbued with lyricism; a spirit impregnated with lofty ideals; optimism that permeates a group; letters pervaded with gloom; a play saturated with imagination; a heart suffused with love. See also synonyms at care
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