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