CHARGE, v.t. 1. To rush on; to fall on; to attack, especially with fixed bayonets; as, an army charges the enemy.2. To load, as a musket or cannon; to thrust in powder, or powder and ball or shot.3. To lead or burden; to throw on or impose that which oppresses; as, to charge the stomach with indigestible food; or to lay on, or to fill, without oppressing; as, to charge the memory with rules and precepts; to charge the mid with facts.4. To set or lay on; to impose, as a tax; as, the land is charged with a quit rent; a rent is charge on the land. 5. To lay on or impose, as a task.The gospel chargeth us with piety towards God.6. To put or lay on; as, to charge a building with ornaments, often implying superfluity.7. To lay on, as a duty; followed by with.The commander charged the officer with the execution of the project. See Gen. 40:48. To entrust to; as, an officer is charged with dispatches.9. To set to, as a dept; to place on the debit side of an account; as, to charge a man with the price of goods sold to him.10. To load or lay on in words, something wrong, reproachful or criminal; to impute to; as, to charge a man with theft.11. To lay on in words; to impute to; followed by on before the person; as, to charge a crime on the offender; to charge evil consequences on the doctrines of the stoics.12. To lay on, give or communicate, as an order, command or earnest request; to enjoin; to exhort.In all this, Job sinned not, nor charged God foolishly. Job 1.13. To lay on, give or communicate, as an order, command or earnest request; to enjoin; to exhort.Charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not high-minded. 1 Tim. 4.In this sense, when the command is given in the name of God, or with an oath, the phrase amounts to an adjuration.To adjure; to bind by an oath. 1 Sam. 14:28.14. To give directions to; to instruct authoritatively; as, the judge charged the grand jury to inquire respecting breaches of the peace.15. To communicate electrical matter to, as to a coated vial, or an electrical battery.CHARGE, v.i. To make an onset. Thus Glanville says, like your heroes of antiquity, he charges in iron; and we say, to charge with fixed bayonets. But in this application, the object is understood; to charge the enemy. CHARGE, n. 1. That which is laid on or in; in a general sense, any load or burden. It is the same word radically as cargo.2. The quantity of powder, or of powder and ball or shot, used to load a musket, cannon or other like instrument.3. An onset; a rushing on an enemy; attack; especially by moving troops with fixed bayonets. But it is used for an onset of cavalry as well as of infantry.4. An order, injunction, mandate, command.Moses gave Joshua a charge. Numbers 27.The king gave charge concerning Absalom. 2 Sam. 18.5. That which is enjoined, committed, entrusted or delivered to another, implying care, custody, oversight, or duty to be performed by the person entrusted.I gave Hanani charge over Jerusalem. Neh. 7.Hence the word includes any trust or commission; an office, duty, employment. It is followed by of or over; more generally by of. Hence,6. The person or thing committed to anothers custody, care or management; a trust. Thus the people of a parish are called the ministers charge.The starry guardian drove his charge away to some fresh pasture.7. Instructions given by a judge to a jury, or by a bishop to his clergy. The word may be used as synonymous with command, direction, exhortation or injunction, but always implies solemnity.8. Imputation in a bad sense; accusation.Lay not this sin to their charge. Acts 7.9. That which constitutes debt, in commercial transactions; an entry of money or the price of goods, on the debit side of an account.10. Cost; expense; as, the charges of the war are to be borne by the nation.11. Imposition on land or estate; rent, tax, or whatever constitutes a burden or duty.12. In military affairs, a signal to attack; as, to sound the charge.13. The posture of a weapon fitted for an attack or combat.Their armed slaves in charge.14. Among farriers, a preparation of the consistence of a thick decoction, or between an ointment and a plaster, used as a remedy for sprains and inflammations.15. In heraldry, that which is borne upon the color; or the figures represented on the escutcheon, by which the bearers are distinguished from one another.16. In electrical experiments, a quantity of electrical fluid, communicated to a coated jar, vial or pane of glass.A charge of lead, is thirty-six pigs, each containing six stone, wanting two pounds.
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