KJV Dictionary Definition: charge

charge

CHARGE, v.t.

1. To rush on; to fall on; to attack, especially with fixed bayonets; as, an army charges the enemy.

2. To load, as a musket or cannon; to thrust in powder, or powder and ball or shot.

3. To lead or burden; to throw on or impose that which oppresses; as, to charge the stomach with indigestible food; or to lay on, or to fill, without oppressing; as, to charge the memory with rules and precepts; to charge the mid with facts.

4. To set or lay on; to impose, as a tax; as, the land is charged with a quit rent; a rent is charge on the land.

5. To lay on or impose, as a task.

The gospel chargeth us with piety towards God.

6. To put or lay on; as, to charge a building with ornaments, often implying superfluity.

7. To lay on, as a duty; followed by with.

The commander charged the officer with the execution of the project. See Gen. 40:4

8. To entrust to; as, an officer is charged with dispatches.

9. To set to, as a dept; to place on the debit side of an account; as, to charge a man with the price of goods sold to him.

10. To load or lay on in words, something wrong, reproachful or criminal; to impute to; as, to charge a man with theft.

11. To lay on in words; to impute to; followed by on before the person; as, to charge a crime on the offender; to charge evil consequences on the doctrines of the stoics.

12. To lay on, give or communicate, as an order, command or earnest request; to enjoin; to exhort.

In all this, Job sinned not, nor charged God foolishly. Job 1.

13. To lay on, give or communicate, as an order, command or earnest request; to enjoin; to exhort. Charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not high-minded. 1 Tim. 4.

In this sense, when the command is given in the name of God, or with an oath, the phrase amounts to an adjuration.

To adjure; to bind by an oath. 1 Sam. 14:28.

14. To give directions to; to instruct authoritatively; as, the judge charged the grand jury to inquire respecting breaches of the peace.

15. To communicate electrical matter to, as to a coated vial, or an electrical battery.

CHARGE, v.i. To make an onset. Thus Glanville says, like your heroes of antiquity, he charges in iron; and we say, to charge with fixed bayonets. But in this application, the object is understood; to charge the enemy.

CHARGE, n.

1. That which is laid on or in; in a general sense, any load or burden. It is the same word radically as cargo.

2. The quantity of powder, or of powder and ball or shot, used to load a musket, cannon or other like instrument.

3. An onset; a rushing on an enemy; attack; especially by moving troops with fixed bayonets. But it is used for an onset of cavalry as well as of infantry.

4. An order, injunction, mandate, command.

Moses gave Joshua a charge. Numbers 27.

The king gave charge concerning Absalom. 2 Sam. 18.

5. That which is enjoined, committed, entrusted or delivered to another, implying care, custody, oversight, or duty to be performed by the person entrusted.

I gave Hanani charge over Jerusalem. Neh. 7.

Hence the word includes any trust or commission; an office, duty, employment. It is followed by of or over; more generally by of. Hence,

6. The person or thing committed to anothers custody, care or management; a trust. Thus the people of a parish are called the ministers charge.

The starry guardian drove his charge away to some fresh pasture.

7. Instructions given by a judge to a jury, or by a bishop to his clergy. The word may be used as synonymous with command, direction, exhortation or injunction, but always implies solemnity.

8. Imputation in a bad sense; accusation.

Lay not this sin to their charge. Acts 7.

9. That which constitutes debt, in commercial transactions; an entry of money or the price of goods, on the debit side of an account.

10. Cost; expense; as, the charges of the war are to be borne by the nation.

11. Imposition on land or estate; rent, tax, or whatever constitutes a burden or duty.

12. In military affairs, a signal to attack; as, to sound the charge.

13. The posture of a weapon fitted for an attack or combat.

Their armed slaves in charge.

14. Among farriers, a preparation of the consistence of a thick decoction, or between an ointment and a plaster, used as a remedy for sprains and inflammations.

15. In heraldry, that which is borne upon the color; or the figures represented on the escutcheon, by which the bearers are distinguished from one another.

16. In electrical experiments, a quantity of electrical fluid, communicated to a coated jar, vial or pane of glass.

A charge of lead, is thirty-six pigs, each containing six stone, wanting two pounds.

charged

CHARGED, pp. Loaded; burdened; attacked; laid on; instructed; imputed; accused; placed to the debt; ordered; commanded.

chargeful

CHARGEFUL, a. Expensive; costly.

charging

CHARGING, ppr. Loading; attacking; laying on; instructing; commanding; accusing; imputing.

Definitions from Webster's American Dictionary of the English Language, 1828.
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