01 n. Accusation.
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1.
Accusation.[Obs.]
Entry
4 senses · 2 variants
Webster, 1913
Accuse
02 v. t. To charge with, or declare to have committed, a crime or offense
imp. & p. p.
Accused; p. pr. & vb. n.
Accusing
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1.
To charge with, or declare to have committed, a crime or offense(Law)“Neither can they prove the things whereof they now accuse me.” — Acts xxiv. 13.“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.“Their thoughts the meanwhile accusing or else excusing one another.” — Rom. ii. 15.
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3.
To betray; to show.[R.]
Syn.
To charge; blame; censure; reproach; criminate; indict; impeach; arraign.
-- 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.