1. charge (someone) with an offence or crime: "he was accused of murdering his wife's lover"Similarcharge withindict forarraign fortake to court forput on trial forbring to trial forprosecute forsummonscitemake accusations aboutlay charges againstfile charges againstprefer charges againstimpeach forarchaic:inculpateOppositeabsolveclearexonerate
▪ claim that (someone) has done something wrong:"he was accused of favouritism"Similarblame forhold responsible forlay the blame on someone forhold accountable forhold answerable forcondemn forcriticize fordenounce forimpute blame toassign guilt toattribute liability todeclare guiltyinformal:lay at the door ofpoint the finger atstick onpin onOppositedefendhold blameless
Word OriginMiddle English: from Old French acuser, from Latin accusare ‘call to account’, from ad- ‘towards’ + causa ‘reason, motive, lawsuit’.
