Crossword Dictionary

What's The Definition Of Accuse?

\Ac*cuse"\, n. Accusation. [Obs.] --Shak.
\Ac*cuse"\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Accused}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Accusing}.] [OF. acuser, F. accuser, L. accusare, to call to account, accuse; ad + causa cause, lawsuit. Cf. {Cause}.] 1. To charge with, or declare to have committed, a crime or offense; (Law) to charge with an offense, judicially or by a public process; -- with of; as, to accuse one of a high crime or misdemeanor. Neither can they prove the things whereof they now accuse me. --Acts xxiv. 13. We are accused of having persuaded Austria and Sardinia to lay down their arms. --Macaulay. 2. To charge with a fault; to blame; to censure. Their thoughts the meanwhile accusing or else excusing one another. --Rom. ii. 15. 3. To betray; to show. [L.] --Sir P. Sidney. Syn: To charge; blame; censure; reproach; criminate; indict; impeach; arraign. Usage: To {Accuse}, {Charge}, {Impeach}, {Arraign}. These words agree in bringing home to a person the imputation of wrongdoing. To accuse is a somewhat formal act, and is applied usually (though not exclusively) to crimes; as, to accuse of treason. Charge is the most generic. It may refer to a crime, a dereliction of duty, a fault, etc.; more commonly it refers to moral delinquencies; as, to charge with dishonesty or falsehood. To arraign is to bring (a person) before a tribunal for trial; as, to arraign one before a court or at the bar public opinion. To impeach is officially to charge with misbehavior in office; as, to impeach a minister of high crimes. Both impeach and arraign convey the idea of peculiar dignity or impressiveness.