Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
Accuse
Ac-cuse′
,Noun.
Accusation.
[Obs.]
Shak.
Ac-cuse′
,Verb.
T.
[
imp. & p. p.
Accused
; p. pr. & vb. n.
Accusing
.] [OF.
acuser
, F. accuser
, L. accusare
, to call to account, accuse; ad
+ causa
cause, lawsuit. Cf. Cause
.] 1.
To charge with, or declare to have committed, a crime or offense
; (Law)
to charge with an offense, judicially or by a public process; – with of;
as, to
. accuse
one of a high crime or misdemeanorNeither 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.
2.
To charge with a fault; to blame; to censure.
Their thoughts the meanwhile
accusing
or else excusing one another. Rom. ii. 15.
3.
To betray; to show.
[R.]
Sir P. Sidney.
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. Webster 1828 Edition
Accuse
ACCU'SE
,Verb.
T.
1.
To charge with, or declare to have committed a crime, either by plaint, or complaint, information, indictment, or impeachment; to charge with an offense against the laws, judicially or by a public process; as, to accuse one of a high crime or misdemeanor.2.
To charge with a fault; to blame.Their thoughts, in the meanwhile, accusing or excusing one another. Rom. 2.
It is followed by of before the subject of accusation; the use of for after this verb is illegitimate.