*charge*

n. [ F. charge, fr. charger to load. See Charge, v. t., and cf. Cargo, Caricature. ] 1. A load or burder laid upon a person or thing. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A person or thing commited or intrusted to the care, custody, or management of another; a trust. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ The people of a parish or church are called the charge of the clergyman who is set over them. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Custody or care of any person, thing, or place; office; responsibility; oversight; obigation; duty. [ 1913 Webster ]

'Tis a great charge to come under one body's hand. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. Heed; care; anxiety; trouble. [ Obs. ] Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. Harm. [ Obs. ] Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. An order; a mandate or command; an injunction. [ 1913 Webster ]

The king gave cherge concerning Absalom. 2. Sam. xviii. 5. [ 1913 Webster ]

7. An address (esp. an earnest or impressive address) containing instruction or exhortation; as, the charge of a judge to a jury; the charge of a bishop to his clergy. [ 1913 Webster ]

8. An accusation of a wrong of offense; allegation; indictment; specification of something alleged. [ 1913 Webster ]

The charge of confounding very different classes of phenomena. Whewell. [ 1913 Webster ]

9. Whatever constitutes a burden on property, as rents, taxes, lines, etc.; costs; expense incurred; -- usually in the plural. [ 1913 Webster ]

10. The price demanded for a thing or service. [ 1913 Webster ]

11. An entry or a account of that which is due from one party to another; that which is debited in a business transaction; as, a charge in an account book. [ 1913 Webster ]

12. That quantity, as of ammunition, electricity, ore, fuel, etc., which any apparatus, as a gun, battery, furnace, machine, etc., is intended to receive and fitted to hold, or which is actually in it at one time [ 1913 Webster ]

13. The act of rushing upon, or towards, an enemy; a sudden onset or attack, as of troops, esp. cavalry; hence, the signal for attack; as, to sound the charge. [ 1913 Webster ]

Never, in any other war afore, gave the Romans a hotter charge upon the enemies. Holland. [ 1913 Webster ]

The charge of the light brigade. Tennyson. [ 1913 Webster ]

14. A position (of a weapon) fitted for attack; as, to bring a weapon to the charge. [ 1913 Webster ]

15. (Far.) A sort of plaster or ointment. [ 1913 Webster ]

16. (Her.) A bearing. See Bearing, n., 8. [ 1913 Webster ]

17. [ Cf. Charre. ] Thirty-six pigs of lead, each pig weighing about seventy pounds; -- called also charre. [ 1913 Webster ]

18. Weight; import; value. [ 1913 Webster ]

Many suchlike “as's” of great charge. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

Back charge. See under Back, a. --
Bursting charge. (a) (Mil.) The charge which bursts a shell, etc. (b) (Mining) A small quantity of fine powder to secure the ignition of a charge of coarse powder in blasting. --
Charge and discharge (Equity Practice), the old mode or form of taking an account before a master in chancery. --
Charge sheet, the paper on which are entered at a police station all arrests and accusations. --
To sound the charge, to give the signal for an attack.

Syn. -- Care; custody; trust; management; office; expense; cost; price; assault; attack; onset; injunction; command; order; mandate; instruction; accusation; indictment. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Charged p. pr. & vb. n. Charging. ] [ OF. chargier, F. charger, fr. LL. carricare, fr. L. carrus wagon. Cf. Cargo, Caricature, Cark, and see Car. ] 1. To lay on or impose, as a load, tax, or burden; to load; to fill. [ 1913 Webster ]

A carte that charged was with hay. Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

The charging of children's memories with rules. Locke. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To lay on or impose, as a task, duty, or trust; to command, instruct, or exhort with authority; to enjoin; to urge earnestly; as, to charge a jury; to charge the clergy of a diocese; to charge an agent. [ 1913 Webster ]

Moses . . . charged you to love the Lord your God. Josh. xxii. 5. [ 1913 Webster ]

Cromwell, I charge thee, fling away ambition. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To lay on, impose, or make subject to or liable for. [ 1913 Webster ]

When land shall be charged by any lien. Kent. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. To fix or demand as a price; as, he charges two dollars a barrel for apples. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. To place something to the account of as a debt; to debit, as, to charge one with goods. Also, to enter upon the debit side of an account; as, to charge a sum to one. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. To impute or ascribe; to lay to one's charge. [ 1913 Webster ]

No more accuse thy pen, but charge the crime
On native sloth and negligence of time. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

7. To accuse; to make a charge or assertion against (a person or thing); to lay the responsibility (for something said or done) at the door of. [ 1913 Webster ]

If he did that wrong you charge him with. Tennyson. [ 1913 Webster ]

8. To place within or upon any firearm, piece of apparatus or machinery, the quantity it is intended and fitted to hold or bear; to load; to fill; as, to charge a gun; to charge an electrical machine, etc. [ 1913 Webster ]

Their battering cannon charged to the mouths. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

9. To ornament with or cause to bear; as, to charge an architectural member with a molding. [ 1913 Webster ]

10. (Her.) To assume as a bearing; as, he charges three roses or; to add to or represent on; as, he charges his shield with three roses or. [ 1913 Webster ]

11. To call to account; to challenge. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

To charge me to an answer. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

12. To bear down upon; to rush upon; to attack. [ 1913 Webster ]

Charged our main battle's front. Shak.

Syn. -- To intrust; command; exhort; instruct; accuse; impeach; arraign. See Accuse. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. 1. That may be charged, laid, imposed, or imputes; as, a duty chargeable on iron; a fault chargeable on a man. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Subject to be charge or accused; liable or responsible; as, revenues chargeable with a claim; a man chargeable with murder. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Serving to create expense; costly; burdensome. [ 1913 Webster ]

That we might not be chargeable to any of you. 2. Thess. iii. 8. [ 1913 Webster ]

For the sculptures, which are elegant, were very chargeable. Evelyn. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The quality of being chargeable or expensive. [ Obs. ] Whitelocke. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. At great cost; expensively. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ F. chargeant, fr. charger to load. ] Burdensome; troublesome. [ Obs. ] Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n.; pl. Chargés d'affaires. [ F., “charged with affairs.” ] A diplomatic representative, or minister of an inferior grade, accredited by the government of one state to the minister of foreign affairs of another; also, a substitute, ad interim, for an ambassador or minister plenipotentiary. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Costly; expensive. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

The fineness of the gold and chargeful fashion. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A schoolhouse. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Free from, or with little, charge. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Burdensome. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

I was chargeous to no man. Wyclif, (2 Cor. xi. 9). [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. One who, or that which charges. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. An instrument for measuring or inserting a charge. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. A large dish. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Give me here John Baptist's head in a charger. Matt. xiv. 8. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. A horse for battle or parade. Macaulay. [ 1913 Webster ]

And furious every charger neighed. Campbell. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The office of a chargé d'affaires. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. An opposing charge. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Discharged p. pr. & vb. n. Discharging. ] [ OE. deschargen, dischargen, OF. deschargier, F. décharger; pref. des- (L. dis) + chargier, F. charger. See Charge. ] 1. To relieve of a charge, load, or burden; to empty of a load or cargo; to unburden; to unload; as, to discharge a vessel. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To free of the missile with which anything is charged or loaded; to let go the charge of; as, to discharge a bow, catapult, etc.; especially, said of firearms, -- to fire off; to shoot off; also, to relieve from a state of tension, as a Leyden jar. [ 1913 Webster ]

The galleys also did oftentimes, out of their prows, discharge their great pieces against the city. Knolles. [ 1913 Webster ]

Feeling in other cases discharges itself in indirect muscular actions. H. Spencer. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To of something weighing upon or impeding over one, as a debt, claim, obligation, responsibility, accusation, etc.; to absolve; to acquit; to clear. [ 1913 Webster ]

Discharged of business, void of strife. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

In one man's fault discharge another man of his duty. L'Estrange. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. To relieve of an office or employment; to send away from service; to dismiss. [ 1913 Webster ]

Discharge the common sort
With pay and thanks. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

Grindal . . . was discharged the government of his see. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. To release legally from confinement; to set at liberty; as, to discharge a prisoner. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. To put forth, or remove, as a charge or burden; to take out, as that with which anything is loaded or filled; as, to discharge a cargo. [ 1913 Webster ]

7. To let fly, as a missile; to shoot. [ 1913 Webster ]

They do discharge their shot of courtesy. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

8. To set aside; to annul; to dismiss. [ 1913 Webster ]

We say such an order was “discharged on appeal.” Mozley & W. [ 1913 Webster ]

The order for Daly's attendance was discharged. Macaulay. [ 1913 Webster ]

9. To throw off the obligation of, as a duty or debt; to relieve one's self of, by fulfilling conditions, performing duty, trust, and the like; hence, to perform or execute, as an office, or part. [ 1913 Webster ]

Had I a hundred tongues, a wit so large
As could their hundred offices discharge. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

10. To send away (a creditor) satisfied by payment; to pay one's debt or obligation to. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

If he had
The present money to discharge the Jew. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

11. To give forth; to emit or send out; as, a pipe discharges water; to let fly; to give expression to; to utter; as, to discharge a horrible oath. [ 1913 Webster ]

12. To prohibit; to forbid. [ Scot. Obs. ] Sir W. Scott. [ 1913 Webster ]

13. (Textile Dyeing & Printing) To bleach out or to remove or efface, as by a chemical process; as, to discharge the color from a dyed fabric in order to form light figures on a dark ground. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

Discharging arch (Arch.), an arch over a door, window, or other opening, to distribute the pressure of the wall above. See Illust. of Lintel. --
Discharging piece,
Discharging strut (Arch.), a piece set to carry thrust or weight to a solid point of support. --
Discharging rod (Elec.), a bent wire, with knobs at both ends, and insulated by a glass handle. It is employed for discharging a Leyden jar or an electrical battery. See Discharger.

Syn. -- See Deliver. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. To throw off or deliver a load, charge, or burden; to unload; to emit or give vent to fluid or other contents; as, the water pipe discharges freely. [ 1913 Webster ]

The cloud, if it were oily or fatty, would not discharge. Bacon. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Cf. F. décharge. See Discharge, v. t. ] 1. The act of discharging; the act of relieving of a charge or load; removal of a load or burden; unloading; as, the discharge of a ship; discharge of a cargo. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Firing off; explosive removal of a charge; explosion; letting off; as, a discharge of arrows, of artillery. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Act of relieving of something which oppresses or weighs upon one, as an obligation, liability, debt, accusation, etc.; acquittance; as, the discharge of a debtor. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. Act of removing, or getting rid of, an obligation, liability, etc.; fulfillment, as by the payment of a debt, or the performance of a trust or duty. [ 1913 Webster ]

Indefatigable in the discharge of business. Motley. [ 1913 Webster ]

Nothing can absolve us from the discharge of those duties. L'Estrange. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. Release or dismissal from an office, employment, etc.; dismission; as, the discharge of a workman by his employer. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. Legal release from confinement; liberation; as, the discharge of a prisoner. [ 1913 Webster ]

7. The state of being discharged or relieved of a debt, obligation, office, and the like; acquittal. [ 1913 Webster ]

Too secure of our discharge
From penalty. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

8. That which discharges or releases from an obligation, liability, penalty, etc., as a price of ransom, a legal document. [ 1913 Webster ]

Death, who sets all free,
Hath paid his ransom now and full discharge. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

9. A flowing or issuing out; emission; vent; evacuation; also, that which is discharged or emitted; as, a rapid discharge of water from the pipe. [ 1913 Webster ]

The hemorrhage being stopped, the next occurrence is a thin serous discharge. S. Sharp. [ 1913 Webster ]

10. (Elec.) The equalization of a difference of electric potential between two points. The character of the discharge is mostly determined by the nature of the medium through which it takes place, the amount of the difference of potential, and the form of the terminal conductors on which the difference exists. The discharge may be alternating, continuous, brush, connective, disruptive, glow, oscillatory, stratified, etc. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

Charge and discharge. (Equity Practice) See under Charge, n. --
Paralytic discharge (Physiol.), the increased secretion from a gland resulting from the cutting of all of its nerves. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One who, or that which, discharges. Specifically, in electricity, an instrument for discharging a Leyden jar, or electrical battery, by making a connection between the two surfaces; a discharging rod. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. 1. To load with a double charge, as of gunpowder. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To overcharge. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

, same as electricity{ 1 }. [ PJC ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Encharged p. pr. & vb. n. Encharging ] [ OF. enchargier, F. encharger; pref. en- (L. in) + F. charger. See Charge. ] To charge (with); to impose (a charge) upon. [ 1913 Webster ]

His countenance would express the spirit and the passion of the part he was encharged with. Jeffrey. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A charge. [ Obs. ] A. Copley. [ 1913 Webster ]

{ etc. } (Law) A charge, lien, etc., that successively attaches to such assets as a person may have from time to time, leaving him more or less free to dispose of or encumber them as if no such charge or lien existed.

v. t. To charge erroneously, as in an account. -- n. A mistake in charging. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Cf. Supercargo, Supercharge. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

1. An excessive load or burden. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. An excessive charge in an account. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ Cf. Supercharge, Surcharge. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

1. To charge or load too heavily; to burden; to oppress; to cloy. Sir W. Raleigh. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To fill too full; to crowd. [ 1913 Webster ]

Our language is overcharged with consonants. Addison. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To charge (a buyer) an excessive price; to charge beyond a fair rate or price. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. To exaggerate; as, to overcharge a description. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. (Electricity) To charge (a battery) too much, so as to cause damage. [ PJC ]

Overcharged mine. (Mil.) See Globe of compression, under Globe. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. To make excessive charges. [ 1913 Webster ]

{ etc. } (Accounting) Those general charges or expenses in any business which cannot be charged up as belonging exclusively to any particular part of the work or product, as where different kinds of goods are made, or where there are different departments in a business; -- called also fixed charges, establishment charges, or (in a manufacturing business) administration charges, selling charges, and distribution charges, etc. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

v. t. & i. [ Pref. re- + charge: cf. F. recharger. ] 1. To charge or accuse in return. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To attack again; to attack anew. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Heavy with sleep. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Supercharged p. pr. & vb. n. Supercharging ] [ Pref. super- + charge. Cf. Surcharge. ] (Her.) To charge (a bearing) upon another bearing; as, to supercharge a rose upon a fess. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Her.) A bearing charged upon another bearing. [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Surcharged p. pr. & vb. n. Surcharging ] [ F. surcharger. See Sur-, and Charge, and cf. Overcharge, Supercharge, Supercargo. ] 1. To overload; to overburden; to overmatch; to overcharge; as, to surcharge a beast or a ship; to surcharge a cannon. [ 1913 Webster ]

Four charged two, and two surcharged one. Spenser. [ 1913 Webster ]

Your head reclined, as hiding grief from view,
Droops like a rose surcharged with morning dew. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Law) (a) To overstock; especially, to put more cattle into, as a common, than the person has a right to do, or more than the herbage will sustain. Blackstone. (b) (Equity) To show an omission in (an account) for which credit ought to have been given. Story. Daniel. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To print or write a surcharge on (a postage stamp). [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

n. [ F. ] 1. An overcharge; an excessive load or burden; a load greater than can well be borne. [ 1913 Webster ]

A numerous nobility causeth poverty and inconvenience in a state, for it is surcharge of expense. Bacon. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Law) (a) The putting, by a commoner, of more beasts on the common than he has a right to. (b) (Equity) The showing an omission, as in an account, for which credit ought to have been given. Burrill. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Railroads) A charge over the usual or legal rates. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

4. Something printed or written on a postage stamp to give it a new legal effect, as a new valuation, a place, a date, etc.; also (Colloq.), a stamp with a surcharge. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

n. The act of surcharging; also, surcharge, surplus. [ Obs. ] Daniel. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One who surcharges. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ 1st pref. un- + charge. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

1. To free from a charge or load; to unload. Wyclif. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To free from an accusation; to make no charge against; to acquit. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. 1. To charge below or under; to charge less than is usual or suitable for; as, to undercharge goods or services. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To put too small a charge into; as, to undercharge a gun. [ 1913 Webster ]

Undercharged mine (Mil.), a mine whose crater is not as wide at top as it is deep. W. P. Craighill. [ 1913 Webster ]