Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Charge \Charge\, n. [F. charge, fr. charger to load. See
   {Charge}, v. t., and cf. {Cargo}, {Caricature}.]
   1. A load or burder laid upon a person or thing.

   2. A person or thing commited or intrusted to the care,
      custody, or management of another; a trust.

   Note: The people of a parish or church are called the charge
         of the clergyman who is set over them.

   3. Custody or care of any person, thing, or place; office;
      responsibility; oversight; obigation; duty.

            'Tis a great charge to come under one body's hand.
                                                  --Shak.

   4. Heed; care; anxiety; trouble. [Obs.] --Chaucer.

   5. Harm. [Obs.] --Chaucer.

   6. An order; a mandate or command; an injunction.

            The king gave cherge concerning Absalom. --2. Sam.
                                                  xviii. 5.

   7. An address (esp. an earnest or impressive address)
      containing instruction or exhortation; as, the charge of a
      judge to a jury; the charge of a bishop to his clergy.

   8. An accusation of a wrong of offense; allegation;
      indictment; specification of something alleged.

            The charge of confounding very different classes of
            phenomena.                            --Whewell.

   9. Whatever constitutes a burden on property, as rents,
      taxes, lines, etc.; costs; expense incurred; -- usually in
      the plural.

   10. The price demanded for a thing or service.

   11. An entry or a account of that which is due from one party
       to another; that which is debited in a business
       transaction; as, a charge in an account book.

   12. That quantity, as of ammunition, electricity, ore, fuel,
       etc., which any apparatus, as a gun, battery, furnace,
       machine, etc., is intended to receive and fitted to hold,
       or which is actually in it at one time

   13. The act of rushing upon, or towards, an enemy; a sudden
       onset or attack, as of troops, esp. cavalry; hence, the
       signal for attack; as, to sound the charge.

             Never, in any other war afore, gave the Romans a
             hotter charge upon the enemies.      --Holland.

             The charge of the light brigade.     --Tennyson.

   14. A position (of a weapon) fitted for attack; as, to bring
       a weapon to the charge.

   15. (Far.) A soft of plaster or ointment.

   16. (Her.) A bearing. See {Bearing}, n., 8.

   17. [Cf. {Charre}.] Thirty-six pigs of lead, each pig
       weighing about seventy pounds; -- called also {charre}.

   18. Weight; import; value.

             Many suchlike ``as's'' of great charge. --Shak.

   {Back charge}. See under {Back}, a.

   {Bursting charge}.
       (a  (Mil.) The charge which bursts a shell, etc.
       (b  (Mining) A small quantity of fine powder to secure
           the ignition of a charge of coarse powder in
           blasting.

   {Charge and discharge} (Equity Practice), the old mode or
      form of taking an account before a master in chancery.

   {Charge sheet}, the paper on which are entered at a police
      station all arrests and accusations.

   {To sound the charge}, to give the signal for an attack.

   Syn: Care; custody; trust; management; office; expense; cost;
        price; assault; attack; onset; injunction; command;
        order; mandate; instruction; accusation; indictment.

Charge \Charge\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Charged}; p. pr. & vb. n.
   {Charging}.] [OF. chargier, F. charger, fr. LL. carricare,
   fr. L. carrus wagon. Cf. {Cargo}, {Caricature}, {Cark}, and
   see {Car}.]
   1. To lay on or impose, as a load, tax, or burden; to load;
      to fill.

            A carte that charged was with hay.    --Chaucer.

            The charging of children's memories with rules.
                                                  --Locke.

   2. To lay on or impose, as a task, duty, or trust; to
      command, instruct, or exhort with authority; to enjoin; to
      urge earnestly; as, to charge a jury; to charge the clergy
      of a diocese; to charge an agent.

            Moses . . . charged you to love the Lord your God.
                                                  --Josh. xxii.
                                                  5.

            Cromwell, I charge thee, fling away ambition.
                                                  --Shak.

   3. To lay on, impose, or make subject to or liable for.

            When land shall be charged by any lien. --Kent.

   4. To fix or demand as a price; as, he charges two dollars a
      barrel for apples.

   5. To place something to the account of as a debt; to debit,
      as, to charge one with goods. Also, to enter upon the
      debit side of an account; as, to charge a sum to one.

   6. To impute or ascribe; to lay to one's charge.

            No more accuse thy pen, but charge the crime On
            native sloth and negligence of time.  --Dryden.

   7. To accuse; to make a charge or assertion against (a person
      or thing); to lay the responsibility (for something said
      or done) at the door of.

            If he did that wrong you charge him with.
                                                  --Tennyson.

   8. To place within or upon any firearm, piece of apparatus or
      machinery, the quantity it is intended and fitted to hold
      or bear; to load; to fill; as, to charge a gun; to charge
      an electrical machine, etc.

            Their battering cannon charged to the mouths.
                                                  --Shak.

   9. To ornament with or cause to bear; as, to charge an
      architectural member with a molding.

   10. (Her.) To assume as a bearing; as, he charges three roses
       or; to add to or represent on; as, he charges his shield
       with three roses or.

   11. To call to account; to challenge. [Obs.]

             To charge me to an answer.           --Shak.

   12. To bear down upon; to rush upon; to attack.

             Charged our main battle's front.     --Shak.

   Syn: To intrust; command; exhort; instruct; accuse; impeach;
        arraign. See {Accuse}.

Charge \Charge\, v. i.
   1. To make an onset or rush; as, to charge with fixed
      bayonets.

            Like your heroes of antiquity, he charges in iron.
                                                  --Glanvill.

            ``Charge for the guns!'' he said.     --Tennyson.

   2. To demand a price; as, to charge high for goods.

   3. To debit on an account; as, to charge for purchases.

   4. To squat on its belly and be still; -- a command given by
      a sportsman to a dog.

Source : WordNet®

charge
     n 1: (criminal law) a pleading describing some wrong or offense;
          "he was arrested on a charge of larceny" [syn: {complaint}]
     2: the price charged for some article or service; "the
        admission charge"
     3: an assertion that someone is guilty of a fault or offence;
        "the newspaper published charges that Jones was guilty of
        drunken driving" [syn: {accusation}]
     4: request for payment of a debt; "they submitted their charges
        at the end of each month" [syn: {billing}]
     5: a impetuous rush toward someone or something; "the
        wrestler's charge carried him past his adversary"; "the
        battle began with a cavalry charge"
     6: the quantity of unbalanced electricity in a body (either
        positive or negative) and construed as an excess or
        deficiency of electrons; "the battery needed a fresh
        charge" [syn: {electric charge}]
     7: financial liabilities (such as a tax); "the charges against
        the estate"
     8: a person committed to your care; "the teacher led her
        charges across the street"
     9: attention and management implying responsibility for safety;
        "he is in the care of a bodyguard" [syn: {care}, {tutelage},
         {guardianship}]
     10: a special assignment that is given to a person or group; "a
         confidential mission to London"; "his charge was deliver
         a message" [syn: {mission}, {commission}]
     11: a formal statement of a command or injunction to do
         something; "the judge's charge to the jury" [syn: {commission},
          {direction}]
     12: a quantity of explosive to be set off at one time; "this
         cartridge has a powder charge of 50 grains" [syn: {burster},
          {bursting charge}, {explosive charge}]
     13: the swift release of a store of affective force; "they got a
         great bang out of it"; "what a boot!"; "he got a quick
         rush from injecting heroin"; "he does it for kicks" [syn:
          {bang}, {boot}, {rush}, {flush}, {thrill}, {kick}]
     14: (psychoanalysis) the libidinal energy invested in some idea
         or person or object; "Freud thought of cathexis as a
         psychic analog of an electrical charge" [syn: {cathexis}]
     15: heraldry consisting of a design or image depicted on a
         shield [syn: {bearing}, {heraldic bearing}, {armorial
         bearing}]

charge
     v 1: to make a rush at or sudden attack upon, as in battle; "he
          saw Jess charging at him with a pitchfork" [syn: {bear
          down}]
     2: blame for, make a claim of wrongdoing or misbehavior
        against; "he charged me director with indifference" [syn:
        {accuse}]
     3: demand payment; "Will I get charged for this service?"; "We
        were billed for 4 nights in the hotel, although we stayed
        only 3 nights" [syn: {bill}]
     4: move quickly and violently; "The car tore down the street";
        "He came charging into my office" [syn: {tear}, {shoot}, {shoot
        down}, {buck}]
     5: assign a duty, responsibility or obligation to; "He was
        appointed deputy manager"; "She was charged with
        supervising the creation of a concordance" [syn: {appoint}]
     6: file a formal charge against; "The suspect was charged with
        murdering his wife" [syn: {lodge}, {file}]
     7: make an accusatory claim; "The defense attorney charged that
        the jurors were biased"
     8: fill or load to capacity; "charge the wagon with hay" [ant:
        {discharge}]
     9: enter a certain amount as a charge; "he charged me $15"
     10: cause to be admitted; of persons to an institution; "After
         the second episode, she had to be committed"; "he was
         committed to prison" [syn: {commit}, {institutionalize},
         {institutionalise}, {send}]
     11: give over to another for care or safekeeping; "consign your
         baggage" [syn: {consign}]
     12: pay with a credit card; pay with plastic money; postpone
         payment by recording a purchase as a debt; "Will you pay
         cash or charge the purchase?" [ant: {pay cash}]
     13: lie down on command, of hunting dogs
     14: cause to be agitated, excited, or roused; "The speaker
         charged up the crowd with his inflammatory remarks" [syn:
          {agitate}, {rouse}, {turn on}, {commove}, {excite}, {charge
         up}] [ant: {calm}]
     15: place a heraldic bearing on; "charge all weapons, shields,
         and banners"
     16: provide with munition; "He loaded his gun carefully" [syn: {load}]
     17: direct into a position for use; "point a gun"; "He charged
         his weapon at me" [syn: {level}, {point}]
     18: impose a task upon, assign a responsibility to; "He charged
         her with cleaning up all the files over the weekend"
         [syn: {saddle}, {burden}]
     19: instruct (a jury) about the law, its application, and the
         weighing of evidence
     20: instruct or command with authority; "The teacher charged the
         children to memorize the poem"
     21: attribute responsibility to; "We blamed the accident on
         her"; "The tragedy was charged to her inexperience" [syn:
          {blame}]
     22: set or ask for a certain price; "How much do you charge for
         lunch?"; "This fellow charges $100 for a massage"
     23: cause formation of a net electrical charge in or on; "charge
         a conductor"
     24: energize a battery by passing a current through it in the
         direction opposite to discharge; "I need to charge my car
         battery"
     25: saturate; "The room was charged with tension and anxiety"