charge
Pronunciation: (chärj), [key]
— v., n. charged, charg•ing,
—v.t.
- to impose or ask as a price or fee: That store charges $25 for leather gloves.
- to impose on or ask of (someone) a price or fee: He didn't charge me for it.
- to defer payment for (a purchase) until a bill is rendered by the creditor: The store let me charge the coat.
- to hold liable for payment; enter a debit against.
- to attack by rushing violently against: The cavalry charged the enemy.
- to accuse formally or explicitly (usually fol. by with): They charged him with theft.
- to impute; ascribe the responsibility for: He charged the accident to his own carelessness.
- to instruct authoritatively, as a judge does a jury.
- to lay a command or injunction upon: He charged his secretary with the management of his correspondence.
- to fill or furnish (a thing) with the quantity, as of powder or fuel, that it is fitted to receive: to charge a musket.
- to supply with a quantity of electric charge or electrical energy: to charge a storage battery.
- to change the net amount of positive or negative electric charge of (a particle, body, or system).
- to suffuse, as with emotion: The air was charged with excitement.
- to fill (air, water, etc.) with other matter in a state of diffusion or solution: The air was charged with pollen.
- to load (materials) into a furnace, converter, etc.
- to load or burden (the mind, heart, etc.): His mind was charged with weighty matters.
- to put a load or burden on or in.
- to record the loan of, as books or other materials from a library (often fol. by out): The librarian will charge those books at the front desk.
- to borrow, as books or other materials from a library (often fol. by out): How many magazines may I charge at one time?
- to place charges on (an escutcheon).
—v.i.
- to make an onset; rush, as to an attack.
- to place the price of a thing to one's debit.
- to require payment: to charge for a service.
- to make a debit, as in an account.
- (of dogs) to lie down at command.
- I charged off the blunder to inexperience.
- to write off as an expense or loss.
- to attribute to:I charged off the blunder to inexperience.
- a fiery speaker who can charge up an audience.
- to agitate, stimulate, or excite:a fiery speaker who can charge up an audience.
- to put or be under the influence of narcotic drugs.
—n.
- expense or cost: improvements made at a tenant's own charge.
- a fee or price charged: a charge of three dollars for admission.
- a pecuniary burden, encumbrance, tax, or lien; cost; expense; liability to pay: After his death there were many charges on his estate.
- an entry in an account of something due.
- an impetuous onset or attack, as of soldiers.
- a signal by bugle, drum, etc., for a military charge.
- a duty or responsibility laid upon or entrusted to one.
- care, custody, or superintendence: The child was placed in her nurse's charge.
- anything or anybody committed to one's care or management: The nurse was careful to let no harm come to her charge.
- a parish or congregation committed to the spiritual care of a pastor.
- a command or injunction; exhortation.
- an accusation: He was arrested on a charge of theft.
- an address by a judge to a jury at the close of a trial, instructing it as to the legal points, the weight of evidence, etc., affecting the verdict in the case.
- the quantity of anything that an apparatus is fitted to hold, or holds, at one time: a charge of coal for a furnace.
- a quantity of explosive to be set off at one time.
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- Seeelectric charge.
- the process of charging a storage battery.
- a thrill; kick.
- grains of a solid propellant, usually including an inhibitor.
- a load or burden.
- any distinctive mark upon an escutcheon, as an ordinary or device, not considered as belonging to the field; bearing.
-
- in command; having supervisory power.
- Brit.under arrest; in or into the custody of the police.
- She is in charge of two libraries.
- having the care or supervision of:She is in charge of two libraries.
- Also,in the charge of.under the care or supervision of:The books are in the charge of the accounting office.
char•gé
Pronunciation: (shär-zhā', shär'zhā Fr. shar-zhā'), [key]
— pl. -gés
- a chargé d'affaires.
Random House Unabridged Dictionary, Copyright © 1997, by Random House, Inc., on Infoplease.