charge

verb

• 1demand (an amount) as a price for a service rendered or goods supplied:wedding planners may charge an hourly fee of up to £150 [with two objects]:he charged me five dollars for the wine
• (charge something to) record the cost of something as an amount payable by (someone) or on (an account):they charge the calls to their credit-card accounts

• 2formally accuse (someone) of something, especially an offence under law:they were charged with assault
• [with clause] make an accusation or assertion that:opponents charged that below-cost pricing would reduce safety
• Law formally accuse someone of (an offence): they filed a lawsuit charging fraud and breach of contract

• 3entrust (someone) with a task as a duty or responsibility:the committee was charged with reshaping the educational system

• 4store electrical energy in (a battery or battery-operated device):the shaver can be charged up and used while travelling
• [no object] (of a battery or battery-operated device) receive and store electrical energy.
• load or fill (a container, gun, etc.) to the full or proper extent.
• fill or pervade with a quality or emotion:the air was charged with menace

• 5 [no object] rush forward in attack:the plan is to charge headlong at the enemy
• [with object] rush aggressively towards (someone or something) in attack: I don’t advise anyone to charge that barricade
• [with adverbial of direction] move quickly and forcefully:Henry charged up the staircase

• 6 Heraldry place a heraldic bearing on:a pennant argent, charged with a cross gules

noun

• 1a price asked for goods or services:our standard charge for a letter is £25
• a financial liability or commitment: an asset of some £102.7 m should have been taken as a charge on earnings

• 2an accusation, typically one formally made against a prisoner brought to trial:he appeared in court on a charge of attempted murder

• 3 [mass noun] responsibility for the care or control of someone or something:the people in her charge are pupils and not experimental subjects
• [count noun] a person or thing entrusted to the care of someone:the babysitter watched over her charges
• [count noun] dated a responsibility or duty assigned to someone: I have therefore laid down the charge which was placed upon me
• [count noun] an official instruction, especially one given by a judge to a jury regarding points of law: the judge gave a painstakingly careful charge to the jury

• 4the property of matter that is responsible for electrical phenomena, existing in a positive or negative form.
• the quantity of matter responsible for electrical phenomena carried by a body.
• [mass noun] energy stored chemically for conversion into electricity.
• an act or period of storing electrical energy in a battery.
• [in singular] informal a thrill:I get a real charge out of working hard

• 5a quantity of explosive to be detonated in order to fire a gun or similar weapon: smaller charges, fired on three minute fuses lit by hand

• 6a headlong rush forward, typically in attack:a cavalry charge

• 7 Heraldry a device or bearing placed on a shield or crest.