Impeach

4 definitions found

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

  Impeach \Im*peach"\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Impeached}; p. pr. &
     vb. n. {Impeaching}.] [OE. empeechier to prevent, hinder,
     bar, F. emp[^e]cher, L. impedicare to entangle; pref. im- in
     + pedica fetter, fr. pes, pedis, foot. See {Foot}, and
     {Appeach}, {Dispatch}, {Impede}.]
     1. To hinder; to impede; to prevent. [Obs.]


        [1913 Webster]
  
              These ungracious practices of his sons did impeach
              his journey to the Holy Land.         --Sir J.
                                                    Davies.
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              A defluxion on my throat impeached my utterance.
                                                    --Howell.
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     2. To charge with a crime or misdemeanor; to accuse;
        especially to charge (a public officer), before a
        competent tribunal, with misbehavior in office; to cite
        before a tribunal for judgment of official misconduct; to
        arraign; as, to impeach a judge. See {Impeachment}.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     3. Hence, to charge with impropriety; to dishonor; to bring
        discredit on; to call in question; as, to impeach one's
        motives or conduct.
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              And doth impeach the freedom of the state. --Shak.
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     4. (Law) To challenge or discredit the credibility of, as of
        a witness, or the validity of, as of commercial paper.
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     Note: When used in law with reference to a witness, the term
           signifies, to discredit, to show or prove unreliable or
           unworthy of belief; when used in reference to the
           credit of witness, the term denotes, to impair, to
           lessen, to disparage, to destroy. The credit of a
           witness may be impeached by showing that he has made
           statements out of court contradictory to what he swears
           at the trial, or by showing that his reputation for
           veracity is bad, etc.
  
     Syn: To accuse; arraign; censure; criminate; indict; impair;
          disparage; discredit. See {Accuse}.
          [1913 Webster]

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

  Impeach \Im*peach"\, n.
     Hindrance; impeachment. [Obs.]
     [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  impeach
       v 1: challenge the honesty or credibility of; as of witnesses
       2: charge with an offense or misdemeanor; "The public officials
          were impeached"
       3: charge with a crime or misdemeanor
       4: bring an accusation against; level a charge against; "He
          charged the man with spousal abuse" [syn: {accuse}, {incriminate},
           {criminate}]

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

  80 Moby Thesaurus words for "impeach":
     accuse, allege, anathematize, anathemize, animadvert on, arraign,
     article, asperse, attack, belittle, blame, book, bring accusation,
     bring charges, bring to book, call into question, call to account,
     cast aspersions on, cast blame upon, cast reflection upon, censure,
     challenge, charge, cite, complain, complain against, condemn,
     criminate, cry down, cry out against, cry out on, cry shame upon,
     damn, declaim, decry, denounce, denunciate, deprecate, discredit,
     disparage, fasten on, fasten upon, file a claim, finger,
     fulminate against, hang something on, have up, implicate, imply,
     impugn, impute, incriminate, inculpate, indict, inform against,
     inform on, insinuate, inveigh against, lay charges,
     lodge a complaint, lodge a plaint, malign, pin on, prefer charges,
     press charges, pull up, put on report, reflect upon, report,
     reprehend, reproach, reprobate, shake up, slander, take to task,
     task, taunt with, tax, twit, vilify