Word.ws English Dictionary

charge

/ˈt͡ʃɑːd͡ʒ/

More pronunciations (1)Fewer pronunciations

Australia/ˈt͡ʃäːd͡ʒ/

charge noun: the amount of money levied for a service.

Noun (1)

charge (countable and uncountable, plural charges)

  1. The amount of money levied for a service.
    • There will be a charge of five dollars.
    • There is a cancellation charge if you withdraw your order.
  2. An attack in which combatants rush towards an enemy in an attempt to engage in close combat.
    • Pickett's Charge; the Charge of the Light Brigade
  3. A forceful forward movement.
    • Abou Diaby should have added Arsenal's fourth in the 50th minute after he danced round a host of defenders on a charge towards goal2011 March 2, Chris Whyatt, “Arsenal 5 - 0 Leyton Orient”, in BBC
  4. An official description (by the police or a court) of a crime that somebody may be guilty of.
    • two charges of manslaughter
    • "Ain't gone be no Rikers Island for you next time," I warned him. "You get tapped on another gun charge and you looking at some upstate time."2006, Noire [pseudonym], Thug-A-Licious: An Urban Erotic Tale, New York, N.Y.: One World, Ballantine Books, →ISBN, page 108
    Synonyms:
    count
  5. An accusation by a person or organization.
    • That's a slanderous charge of abuse of trust.
    • we'll nail the sophist to it, if we can get him on that charge;2005, Plato, translated by Lesley Brown, Sophist, page 261a
    Synonyms:
    count, complaint
  6. An electric charge.
  7. The scope of someone's responsibility.
    • The child was in the nanny's charge.
    • He had the key of a closet in which the moneys of this fund were kept, but the outer key of the vault, of which the closet formed part, was in the charge of another person.1848 April 24, John K. Kane, opinion, United States v. Hutchison, as reported in The Pennsylvania law Journal, June 1848 edition, as reprinted in, 1848,The Pennsylvania Law Journal volume 7, page 366...
  8. Someone or something entrusted to one's care, such as a child to a babysitter or a student to a teacher.
    • The child was a charge of the nanny.
  9. A load or burden; cargo.
    • The ship had a charge of colonists and their belongings.
  10. An instruction.
    • I gave him the charge to get the deal closed by the end of the month.
  11. A mortgage.
  12. An offensive foul in which the player with the ball moves into a stationary defender.
Show 9 more meaningsShow fewer meanings
  1. A measured amount of powder and/or shot in a cartridge.
  2. (broadly) A measured amount of explosive.
    • Watt might have broken the door down, with an axe, or a crow, or a small charge of explosive, but this might have aroused Erskine's suspicions, and Watt did not want that.1953, Samuel Beckett, Watt, [Paris]: Olympia Press, →OCLC
  3. An image displayed on an escutcheon.
    • Near-synonym: emblem
    Synonyms:
    emblem
  4. A position (of a weapon) fitted for attack.
    • to bring a weapon to the charge
  5. A sort of plaster or ointment.
  6. (obsolete) Weight; import; value.
    • many suchlike as's of great chargec. 1599–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac...
  7. (historical, obsolete) A measure of thirty-six pigs of lead, each pig weighing about seventy pounds; a charre.
  8. An address given at a church service concluding a visitation.
  9. (slang, uncountable) Cannabis.
    • At about the same time I went off pills and started smoking charge marijuana, you know.1966, Alan Bestic, Turn Me on Man, page 58
    • It had been a false alarm, and £2 worth of charge (marijuana) had gone out of the window.1970, Sean O'Callaghan, Drug Addiction in Britain, page 51

Verb

charge (third-person singular simple present charges, present participle charging, simple past and past participle charged)

  1. To assign a duty or responsibility to; to order.
    • Moses […] charged you to love the Lord your God.1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Joshua 22:5
    • Cromwell, I charge thee, fling away ambition.1613 (date written), William Shakespeare, [John Fletcher], “The Famous History of the Life of King Henry the Eight”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio)...
  2. (transitive) To assign (a debit) to an account.
    • Let's charge this to marketing.
    • The law firm's billings are up this month: she's charged 1,000 billing hours to that case.
  3. (ambitransitive) To require payment (of) (a price or fee, for goods, services, etc.).
    • to charge high for goods
    • I won't charge you for the wheat.
    Synonyms:
    assess
  4. (US, transitive) To pay on account, as by using a credit card.
    • Can I charge my purchase to my credit card?
    • Can I charge this purchase?
  5. (dated, transitive) To sell (something) at a given price.
    • to charge coal at $5 per unit
  6. (transitive, criminal law) To formally accuse (a person) of a crime.
    • I'm charging you with assault and battery.
  7. (transitive) To mortgage (a property).
  8. To impute or ascribe.
    • No more accuse thy pen, but charge the crime / On native sloth, and negligence of time.1693, Decimus Junius Juvenalis, John Dryden, transl., “[The Satires of Decimus Junius Juvenalis.] The Third Satyr”, in The Satires of Decimus Junius Juvenalis. Translated into English Verse. […]...
    • He lacked the art of wounding with the sword, and in any case his critics charged that he shrank from steel; but his invective was worthy of Demosthenes and his words drew blood.1966, Stringfellow Barr, The Mask of Jove
  9. To call to account; to challenge.
    • to charge me to an answerc. 1596 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Life and Death of King Iohn”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward]...
  10. (transitive) To place a burden, load or responsibility on or in.
    • the charging of children's memories[…] with rules1693, [John Locke], “§64”, in Some Thoughts Concerning Education, London: […] A[wnsham] and J[ohn] Churchill, […], →OCLC
    • [H]er grandfather […] charged her as she valued her life never to mention that again […]1800, James Hogg, The Mysterious Bride
    1. (transitive) To ornament with or cause to bear.
      • to charge an architectural member with a moulding
    2. (transitive) To assume as a bearing.
      • He charges three roses.
    3. (transitive) To add to or represent on.
      • He charges his shield with three roses or.
      • Within a blue garter inscribed "Great Northern Railway Ireland" is a shield, on which are marshalled the arms of the principal towns in the company's area. The shield is divided quarterly with the arms of Dublin in the first quarter, Londonderry in the second quarter, Enniskillen in the third, and...1956 July, Col. H. C. B. Rogers, “Railway Heraldry”, in Railway Magazine, pages 476-477
  11. (transitive) To load equipment with material required for its use, as a firearm with powder, a fire hose with water, a chemical reactor with raw materials.
    • Charge your weapons; we're moving up.
    • their battering cannon charged to the mouthsc. 1596 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Life and Death of King Iohn”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward]...
    1. (transitive) To cause to take on an electric charge.
      • Rubbing amber with wool will charge it quickly.
    2. (transitive) To replenish energy to (a battery, or a device containing a battery) by use of an electrical device plugged into a power outlet.
      • He charged the battery overnight.
      • Don't forget to charge the drill.
    3. (intransitive, transitive) To replenish energy.
      • The battery is still charging: I can't use it yet.
      • His cell phone charges very quickly, whereas mine takes forever.
  12. (intransitive) To move forward quickly and forcefully, particularly in combat and/or on horseback.
    • Faced with an enemy whose largest gun turrets weigh more than the entire ship, Johnston decides that running is boring, and instead pulls a full 180-degree turn and charges straight back at the attacking forces.2019 February 27, Drachinifel, 16:22 from the start, in The Battle of Samar - Odds? What are those?, archived from the original on 03 Nov 2022
    1. (intransitive, transitive) To attack by moving forward quickly in a group.
      • The impetuous corps charged the enemy lines.
      • My Lord, we haue diſcouered the enemie
        Readie to Charge you with a mightie army.c. 1587–1588 (date written), [Christopher Marlowe], Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […], 2nd edition, part 1, London: […] [R. Robinson for] Richard Iones, […], published 1592, →OCLC...
    2. (intransitive) To commit a charging foul.
    3. (intransitive) To take a few steps down the pitch towards the bowler as they deliver the ball, either to disrupt the length of the delivery, or to get into a better position to hit the ball.
  13. (transitive) To lie on the belly and be still. (A command given by a hunter to a dog)

Noun (2) capitalized: CHARGE

CHARGE (uncountable)

  1. (abbreviation, ellipsis) Ellipsis of CHARGE syndrome.

charge meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Sinhala and Tagalog

charge in Hindi

military: ground attack
धावा dhāvā
accusation
आरोप ārop, अभियोग abhiyog
amount of money levied for a service
शुल्क śulk, लागत lāgat, दाम dām
electric charge
आवेश āveś

charge in Tamil

electric charge
மின்னேற்றம் miṉṉēṟṟam
to add energy to
மின்னேற்று miṉṉēṟṟu
to cause to take on an electric charge
மின்னேற்று miṉṉēṟṟu
intransitive: of a battery or device: to gain energy
மின்னேற்று miṉṉēṟṟu

charge in Sinhala

electric charge
සුවැසිරිය suwæsiriya

charge in Tagalog

accusation
sakdal
More languagesFewer languages
charge in Arabic
تُهْمَة tuhma, شَحَنَ šaḥana, اِتَّهَمَ ittahama, هَاجَمَ hājama
charge in Malay
pertuduhan, caj, cas elektrik, mengecas
charge in Indonesian
tuduhan, biaya, beban
charge in Persian
بار bâr, بار الکتریکی bâr-e elekteriki
charge in Thai
ประจุไฟฟ้า bprà-jù-fai-fáa, ชาร์จ cháat
charge in Vietnamese
điện tích, nạp điện, nạp, trách nhiệm

Examples of charge in a sentence

  • I charge my phone every night.
  • A charge often leveled against organic agriculture is that it is more philosophy than science.2006, Michael Pollan, The Omnivore's Dilemma, The Penguin Press, →ISBN, page 150:
  • [A] huge torrent of boiling black mud, charged with blocks of rock and moving with enormous rapidity, rolled like an avalanche down the gorge.1911, The Encyclopedia Britannica, entry on Moya

All 40 example sentences with charge

Synonyms of charge

16 more synonymsFewer synonyms

All synonyms of charge

Forms of charge

Noun
pluralcharges
Verb
third-person singular presentcharges
present participlecharging
past participlecharged
pastcharged

Past tense of charge: charged

Plural of charge: charges

Origin of charge

From Middle English chargen, from Old French chargier, from Late Latin carricō (“to load”), from Latin carrus (“a car, wagon”); see car. Doublet of cargo.

Words formed from charge

Phrases with charge

57 more phrasesFewer phrases

Words that rhyme with charge

1 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about charge

What does charge mean?
Charge means the amount of money levied for a service.
What is charge in Hindi?
Charge in Hindi is धावा (dhāvā), आरोप (ārop), अभियोग (abhiyog). See Charge meaning in Hindi.
How do you use charge in a sentence?
I charge my phone every night.
What part of speech is charge?
Charge can be a noun or a verb.
How do you pronounce charge?
Charge is pronounced /ˈt͡ʃɑːd͡ʒ/ (UK).
What is the plural of charge?
The plural of charge is charges.

Words near charge in the dictionary

  1. charette
  2. Charette modification
  3. charettes
  4. Charfield
  5. chargable
  6. charge
  7. charge account
  8. charge accounts
  9. CHARGE association
  10. charge card
  11. charge cards

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: charge (page history and authors); CHARGE (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-charge.wav, en-au-charge.ogg, en-us-charge.ogg.

Cite this entry: “charge.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/charge. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.