Handout #1: Definitions of Charge
v. charged, charg·ing, charg·es
- To impose a duty, responsibility, or obligation on: charged him with the task of watching the young swimmers.
- To set or ask (a given amount) as a price: charges ten dollars for a haircut.
- To hold financially liable; demand payment from: charged her for the balance due.
- To postpone payment on (a purchase) by recording as a debt: paid cash for the stockings but charged the new coat.
- To load to capacity; fill: charge a furnace with coal.
- To saturate; impregnate: The atmosphere was charged with tension.
- To load (a gun or other firearm) with a quantity of explosive: charged the musket with powder.
- To instruct or urge authoritatively; command: charged her not to reveal the source of information.
- Law. To instruct (a jury) about the law, its application, and the weighing of evidence.
- 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.
- To put the blame for; attribute or impute: charged the accident to the driver's inexperience.
- To attack violently: The troops charged the enemy line.
- Basketball. To bump or run into (a defender) illegally while in possession of the ball or having just made a pass or shot.
- Sports.
- To bump (an opponent) so as to knock off balance or gain control of the ball, as in soccer.
- To body-check (an opponent) illegally, from behind or after taking more than two strides, as in ice hockey.
- Electricity.
- To cause formation of a net electric charge on or in (a conductor, for example).
- To energize (a storage battery) by passing current through it in the direction opposite to discharge.
- To excite; rouse: a speaker who knows how to charge up a crowd.
- To direct or put (a weapon) into position for use; level.
- Heraldry. To place a charge on (an escutcheon).