charge

CHARJ/t͡ʃɑɹd͡ʒ/UKCHAHJ/t͡ʃɑːd͡ʒ/

Verbcharges, charging, charged

Noun pluralcharges

37 meanings of charge

Practice

1
make payverbtransitive or intransitive
To set or demand a price or fee as payment for goods, services, and so on.
Most airlines charge a fee for checked luggage.
The consultant charged two hundred dollars an hour for her advice.
UsageCharge someone a price for something: they charged me $20 for delivery. The seller charges; the thing costs.
Similarbill, levy, ask
2
pricenouncountable or uncountable
The amount of money that a business or authority levies for a service.
The hotel applies a nightly charge for parking.
Customers complained about hidden charges on their phone bills.
UsageCommon phrases: free of charge, at no extra charge, a charge for parking.
Similarfee, cost, price, levy
3
responsibilitynouncountable or uncountable
The range of duties or matters for which a person is responsible.
The eastern district fell under the new manager's charge.
She took charge of the relief effort within hours of the flood.
UsageSet phrases: in charge of, take charge of, in someone's charge: she took charge of the relief effort.
Similarcontrol, care, responsibility, command
Note
Responsibility is pictured here as ground a person holds. John K. Kane's 1848 opinion in United States v. Hutchison shows the formal shape: a vault key “in the charge of another person.” Whoever or whatever sits inside that ground is one's charge.
Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 2 facts
John K. Kane delivered the cited opinion in United States v. Hutchison in 1848. en.wiktionary.org
The opinion describes a vault key as being “in the charge of another person.” en.wiktionary.org
4
criminal accusationnouncountable or uncountable
An accusation that someone has done wrong, especially a formal accusation by the police or a court that a person has committed a crime.
Prosecutors filed a charge of fraud against the company's founder.
She was released after the charges were dropped.
UsageUse a charge of fraud, or put the offense description before charge: a gun charge. Charges are brought, filed, dropped or denied.
Similaraccusation, allegation, indictment
Note
A critic can level a charge too, but the formal kind comes from authorities such as the police or prosecutors.
5
accuse of crimeverbtransitive
To lay an official accusation of a crime against someone.
Prosecutors decided to charge the executive with insider trading.
Authorities charged two suspects in connection with the arson.
UsageUsually charge someone with a crime: she was charged with theft.
Similaraccuse, indict, prosecute, arraign
6
give a dutyverbtransitive
To give someone a duty or responsibility; to order or instruct them to do something.
The board charged the committee with reviewing the budget.
The judge will charge the jury before deliberations begin.
UsageUsually charge someone with a task: charged with reviewing the budget. Charge someone to do something sounds solemn.
Similartask, entrust, instruct, order, direct
Note
In its older form the verb is solemn: an authority charges someone to do something. The King James Bible of 1611 speaks of the law “which Moses the servant of the LORD charged you,” and Shakespeare and Fletcher's Henry VIII has “Cromwell, I charge thee, fling away ambition.”
Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 4 facts
The King James Bible was first published in 1611. wwwe.lib.cam.ac.uk
The quoted wording occurs in the King James Bible, Joshua 22:5. en.wikisource.org
Henry VIII is a collaboration by William Shakespeare and John Fletcher. folgerpedia.folger.edu
The quotation occurs in Henry VIII; Wolsey addresses Cromwell. folger.edu
7
power upverbtransitive or intransitive
To replenish energy, either by supplying it to something or by taking it in.
Solar panels charge the cabin's batteries during the day.
The flywheel charges as the vehicle brakes.
Similarreplenish
Oppositedischarge, drain
8
electricity (physics)nouncountable or uncountable
A physical property of matter that causes objects to attract or repel each other through electric force; it can be positive or negative.
Electrons carry a negative charge.
Lightning occurs when charge builds up inside storm clouds.
Note
A charge, positive or negative, can belong to particles, ions and whole objects. The verb of giving a charge turns the same idea into an action, as when rubbing amber with wool charges it.
9
stormverbintransitive
To rush forward with speed and force, especially to attack an enemy in battle.
The cavalry charged across the open field toward the enemy line.
Rhinos can charge at speeds approaching thirty miles per hour.
UsageOften charge at someone or charge into a place: the bull charged at him.
Oppositeretreat, withdraw
10
battery levelnoununcountable
The quantity of electrical energy held in a battery or a device at a given moment.
By the end of the hike, the GPS unit was down to five percent charge.
Cold weather drains the charge from electric car batteries faster than most drivers expect.
Similarpower
Note
This is the noun that goes with charging a phone, and it belongs to everyday talk rather than to the physicist's electric charge. The old image still fits: the word comes through Old French from Late Latin carricō, "to load", so a battery's charge is its load. It pairs with a percentage or a word like full or low: ten percent charge, a full charge, low on charge.

Less common meanings

11
army attacknouncountable or uncountable
A sudden forceful rush forward, especially an attack in which soldiers or animals rush at an enemy.
The infantry's charge broke the defenders' line within minutes.
Lances lowered, the cavalry began their charge down the slope.
UsageTroops make or lead a charge. Use capitals in established names such as the Charge of the Light Brigade.
Similarattack, assault, rush, onslaught, advance
Oppositeretreat, withdrawal
Note
History has turned some of these attacks into proper names: Pickett's Charge, the Charge of the Light Brigade. Each is capitalized because it names one famous attack.
Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 2 facts
Pickett's Charge is the established name of a particular historical attack. home.nps.gov
The Charge of the Light Brigade is the established name of a particular historical attack. collection.nam.ac.uk
12
pay on accountverbUStransitive
To pay for something on account, as by using a credit card.
He decided to charge the plane tickets and pay them off later.
Short on cash, she charged the new tires and hoped her next paycheck would cover the bill.
UsageCharge something to a card: charge the tickets to my card.
13
person in carenouncountable or uncountable
Someone or something placed in one's care, such as a child in a babysitter's keeping or a pupil under a teacher.
The governess kept a close eye on her young charge during the voyage.
The zookeeper spoke of his scaly charges with obvious affection.
Similarward
14
make electricverbtransitive
To cause an object to take on an electric charge, either positive or negative.
Friction charges the two surfaces as they slide against each other.
A high-voltage supply can charge the metal dome until sparks jump from it.
Oppositedischarge
15
blame onverbtransitive
To impute or ascribe something, such as blame or a fault, to a person or cause.
Critics charged the project's collapse to mismanagement rather than bad luck.
Historians charge much of the famine to policy failures, not weather.
Similarattribute, ascribe, impute
Note
Blame is placed where it belongs, or where the speaker thinks it does. Dryden's translation of Persius (1692) writes “charge the crime / On native sloth,” the older pattern of charging something on a cause. Later prose also uses a that-clause, as in Stringfellow Barr's The Mask of Jove (1966), where critics “charged that he shrank from steel.” In that clause the verb leans toward accusation.
16
explosivenouncountable or uncountable
A measured amount of explosive, such as powder loaded into a firearm or a device placed for blasting.
Engineers set a small charge at the base of each support column.
The avalanche crew detonated charges above the pass at dawn.
Similarexplosive
Note
The firearms measure is stretched here to anything meant to blow up: an amount of explosive sized and placed for one job. It is usually counted and qualified by size, as in Samuel Beckett's Watt (1953), where Watt considers breaking down a door with “a small charge of explosive.”
Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 2 facts
Samuel Beckett wrote Watt, first published in 1953. en.wikipedia.org
The novel describes Watt potentially breaking down a door using the quoted explosive charge. en.wiktionary.org
17
basketball foulnouncountable or uncountable
In basketball, an offensive foul committed when a player runs into a defender who has established a legal guarding position.
The officials reviewed the replay to decide between a block and a charge.
He drew his third charge of the game by planting his feet early.
UsageDefenders draw or take a charge, and referees call a charge.
Note
The most argued call in basketball sits between two fouls. It is a charge if the defender had established a legal guarding position in the attacker's path, and a block if the defender had not. A defender who plants early is said to draw a charge, and officials can review some calls on replay. The player at fault is described with the verb for committing it.
Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 1 fact
Legal guarding position and responsibility for illegal contact determine the call. A defender may continue moving after establishing legal guarding position; remaining stationary is not required. official.nba.com
18
commit a foulverbintransitive
In basketball, to commit an offensive foul by running into a defender who has established a legal guarding position.
He charged on the drive, and the basket was waved off.
Players who charge repeatedly find themselves in early foul trouble.
Note
Basketball makes the verb intransitive and turns it into a mistake: the ball handler charges, and the basket is waved off. The foul itself, and how it is told apart from a block, belongs to the noun for the foul.
Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 1 fact
A ball handler's offensive charging foul prevents the basket from counting. official.nba.com
19
record a costverbtransitive
To assign a cost or debit to a particular account in the books.
The firm charges travel expenses directly to each client's account.
Charge the overtime hours to the maintenance budget, not to payroll.
UsageUsually charge a cost to an account or budget.
Similarbill, debit, allocate, assign
20
fill (equipment)verbtransitive
To supply equipment with the material it uses, such as putting powder into a firearm, water into a fire hose, or raw materials into a reactor.
The crew charged the kiln with limestone for the next firing.
Operators charge the reactor with fresh catalyst at the start of each run.
Similarload, fill, feed
Oppositeunload, empty
Note
The practical meaning behind the word's technical branches: you charge a gun with powder, a kiln with limestone, a reactor with raw materials, and the material follows with. Shakespeare's King John has cannon “charged to the mouths,” filled to the brim. Electrical charging grew out of this meaning, and the load at its root goes back to the cargo sense.
Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 4 facts
William Shakespeare wrote King John. gutenberg.org
King John contains the exact phrase “charged to the mouths,” describing cannon loaded to their muzzles; the speaker is the Bastard. gutenberg.org
Electrical charging extends the notion of loading something with material. thomasaquinas.edu
The word's underlying etymological meaning is loading, connected with a vehicle's load or cargo. en.wiktionary.org
21
official instructionnouncountable or uncountable
An instruction or command given with authority, directing someone to carry out a duty.
The board issued a charge to the committee to review every contract.
Her final charge to the graduates was to serve their communities.
Similarinstruction, directive, mandate, command, order
22
mortgagenouncountable or uncountable
A mortgage; a legal interest in property securing the payment of a debt.
The lender registered a charge against the property before releasing the funds.
The title search revealed an old charge that had never been removed.
Similarmortgage, lien
Note
Property lawyers use the word for the lender's hold on land. A charge is registered against a property and stays on the title until it is removed, which is why a title search can turn up an old one. The owner keeps the property, and the charge is what makes it answer for the debt. The matching verb describes the owner creating it.
Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 3 facts
A registered mortgage charge requires removal from the property register, including after repayment. gov.uk
A title search can reveal a mortgage entry and its discharge status. gov.uk
Under a mortgage by legal charge, the debtor retains ownership while the creditor obtains enforceable security rights over the property. en.wikipedia.org
23
pledge propertyverbtransitive
To mortgage a property, offering it as security for a debt.
The company charged its warehouse to secure the new credit line.
Owners who charge their land to a lender risk losing it if they fall behind on payments.
Similarmortgage, pledge
24
verbarchaic
To call someone to account, or to challenge them to justify their conduct or claims.
to charge me to an answer
c. 1596, William Shakespeare, “The Life and Death of King Iohn”
25
nounarchaic
A load or burden carried from one place to another, such as a ship's cargo.
26
noun
A figure or design that appears on an escutcheon, the shield bearing a coat of arms.
27
noun
The position of a weapon such as a lance or bayonet when held level and pointed forward, ready to attack.
28
noun
A medicated plaster or salve, as once used by farriers on horses.
29
nounobsolete
Importance, significance, or worth.
many suchlike as's of great charge
c. 1599, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke”
30
nounobsolete
An old unit of lead, made up of 36 pigs (cast bars) of about 70 pounds apiece.
31
noun
A formal speech by a bishop or archdeacon to the clergy at the close of an official visit to a diocese.
32
nounslang
Marijuana, as a drug.
33
verbdated
To sell goods for a stated sum.
34
verb
To load something with decoration or make it carry a feature, as when adding a moulding to part of a building.
35
verb
To adopt a design as part of one's coat of arms.
36
verb
In cricket, of a batter, to advance down the pitch as the bowler releases the ball, to upset its length or get closer for a shot.
37
verb
Of a hunting dog, to drop flat onto its belly and stay motionless, often on a hunter's command.

Practice

Can you tell the meanings of charge apart? Answer 3 quick questions from this page, or write your own sentence and AI will check it.

Origin

Latin carrus ("a car, wagon") gave Late Latin carricō ("to load"), which became Old French chargier and then Middle English chargen. Cargo is a doublet.