ACCUSE • DICTIONARY ONE.COM • Definition of Accuse

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/əkjˈuz/ Listen

verb

Accuse v. t. (past & past part. accused; pres. part. accusing)

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." "We are accused of having persuaded Austria and Sardinia to lay down their arms."

To charge with a fault; to blame; to censure. "Their thoughts the meanwhile accusing or else excusing one another."

To betray; to show. (R.)

Synonyms: To charge; blame; censure; reproach; criminate; indict; impeach; arraign. 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.

noun

Accuse n. Accusation. (Obs.)

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Etymology of 'Accuse'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Accuse" Quotes from Famous Books

... himself up. Not to be a sportsman, not to play the game—to accuse him of this would have brought him back from the edge of ...

— The Judgment House • Gilbert Parker

... therefore subsequently ostracized), which was that, as he was beaten in the matter of private possessions, he should make gifts to the people from their own property; and accordingly he instituted pay for the members of the juries. Some critics accuse him of thereby causing a deterioration in the character of the juries, since it was always the common people who put themselves forward for selection as jurors, rather than the men of better position. Moreover, ...

— The Athenian Constitution • Aristotle

... the right to accuse me, monsieur; I am guilty of nothing. Your feelings of irritation are aroused against me; I ...

— The Forty-Five Guardsmen • Alexandre Dumas

... Scots, in spite of their leaders, would be sure to leave their ranks and flock into the camp to plunder, when they might be easily dispersed and cut to pieces. The king, however, refused to adopt the suggestion, saying, that no one must be able to accuse him of avoiding a battle or of withdrawing his army before such a rabble. As the armies stood confronting each other in battle array a priest passed along the Scottish front, crucifix in hand, exhorting all to fight to the ...

— In Freedom's Cause • G. A. Henty

... card, I have implicated Miss Helene Marigold in the various exploits which have been so successful now. She is unknown in New York—I investigated that matter. She will have a fine task in proving an alibi, after the careful preparation I have made. In fact, I accuse her of being the ...

— The Voice on the Wire • Eustace Hale Ball

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