Accuse

7 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Accuse \Ac*cuse"\, n.
     Accusation. [Obs.] --Shak.
     [1913 Webster]

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:



  Accuse \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.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              Neither can they prove the things whereof they now
              accuse me.                            --Acts xxiv.
                                                    13.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              We are accused of having persuaded Austria and
              Sardinia to lay down their arms.      --Macaulay.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. To charge with a fault; to blame; to censure.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              Their thoughts the meanwhile accusing or else
              excusing one another.                 --Rom. ii. 15.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     3. To betray; to show. [R.]                    --Sir P.
                                                    Sidney.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     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.
            [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  accuse
       v 1: bring an accusation against; level a charge against; "He
            charged the man with spousal abuse" [syn: {impeach}, {incriminate},
             {criminate}]
       2: blame for, make a claim of wrongdoing or misbehavior
          against; "he charged me director with indifference" [syn:
          {charge}]

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  67 Moby Thesaurus words for "accuse":
     accuse of, allege, anathematize, anathemize, animadvert on,
     arraign, article, attribute, blame, book, bring accusation,
     bring charges, bring to book, call to account, cast blame upon,
     cast reflection upon, censure, charge, charge with, cite, complain,
     complain against, condemn, criminate, criticize, cry down,
     cry out against, cry out on, cry shame upon, damn, decry, denounce,
     denunciate, fasten on, fasten upon, finger, fulminate against,
     hang something on, impeach, imply, impugn, impute, incriminate,
     inculpate, indict, inform against, inform on, insinuate,
     inveigh against, lay charges, lodge a complaint, lodge a plaint,
     pin on, prefer charges, press charges, put on report, reflect upon,
     report, reprehend, reproach, reprobate, shake up, take to task,
     task, taunt with, tax, twit
  
  

From Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856) [bouvier]:

  ACCUSED. One who is charged with a crime or misdemeanor.
  
  

From Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856) [bouvier]:

  ACCUSER. One who makes an accusation.
  
  

From THE DEVIL'S DICTIONARY ((C)1911 Released April 15 1993) [devils]:

  ACCUSE, v.t.  To affirm another's guilt or unworth; most commonly as a
  justification of ourselves for having wronged him.