What does accuse mean?

Definitions for accuse
əˈkyuzac·cuse

This dictionary definitions page includes all the possible meanings, example usage and translations of the word accuse.

Princeton's WordNet

  1. accuse, impeach, incriminate, criminateverb

    bring an accusation against; level a charge against

    "The neighbors accused the man of spousal abuse"

  2. charge, accuseverb

    blame for, make a claim of wrongdoing or misbehavior against

    "he charged the director with indifference"

Wiktionary

  1. accusenoun

    An accusation - Shakespeare

  2. accuseverb

    To find fault with, to blame, to censure.

  3. accuseverb

    To charge with having committed a crime or offence.

    For the U.S. President to be impeached, he must be accused of a high crime or misdemeanor.

  4. accuseverb

    To make an accusation against someone.

  5. Etymology: * First attested around 1300.

Samuel Johnson's Dictionary

  1. To ACCUSEverb

    Etymology: accuso, Lat.

    He stripp’d the bears-foot of its leafy growth;
    And, calling western winds accus’d the spring of sloth. John Dryden, Virgil, Georg. iv. l. 205.

    The professors are accused of all the ill practices which may seem to be the ill consequences of their principles. Joseph Addison, on Italy.

    Never send up a leg of a fowl at supper, while there is a cat or dog in the house, that can be accused for running away with it: But, if there happen to be neither, you must lay it upon the rats, or a strange greyhound. Jonathan Swift, Directions to the Cook.

    Their conscience bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another. Rom. ii. 15.

    Your valour would your sloth too much accuse,
    And therefore, like themselves, they princes choose. John Dryden, Tyrannick Love.

Wikipedia

  1. Accuse

    An accusation is a statement by one person asserting that another person or entity has done something improper. The person who makes the accusation is an accuser, while the subject against whom it is made is the accused. Whether a statement is interpreted as an accusation relies on the social environment in which it is made: What counts as an accusation is often unclear, and what kind of response is warranted is even less clear. Even a purely surface semantic analysis of accusatory language cannot be performed in the absence of social context, including who is making the accusation and to whom it is being made—often the subject of supposedly accusatory language might well interpret the utterance in question as something that he need not respond to. An accusation can be made in private or in public, to the accused person alone, or to other people with or without the knowledge of the accused person. An accuser can make an accusation with or without evidence; the accusation can be entirely speculative, and can even be a false accusation, made out of malice, for the purpose of harming the reputation of the accused.

ChatGPT

  1. accuse

    Accuse is a verb which means to claim that someone has done something wrong or illegal, typically without providing evidence or proof. It often involves formal charges in a judicial context but can also occur in a casual setting.

  2. accuse

    To accuse means to charge someone with an offense or crime; to make a claim that a person is responsible for wrongdoing, misconduct, or a violation; or to blame someone for an action that is considered unacceptable or damaging.

Webster Dictionary

  1. Accusenoun

    accusation

  2. Accuseverb

    to charge with, or declare to have committed, a crime or offense

  3. Accuseverb

    to charge with an offense, judicially or by a public process; -- with of; as, to accuse one of a high crime or misdemeanor

  4. Accuseverb

    to charge with a fault; to blame; to censure

  5. Accuseverb

    to betray; to show. [L.]

Chambers 20th Century Dictionary

  1. Accuse

    ak-kūz′, v.t. to bring a charge against: to blame (with of before the thing charged, sometimes for).—adj. Accus′able, that may be accused.—ns. Accus′al, accusation; Accusā′tion, the act of accusing: the charge brought against any one.—adjs. Accusatō′rial, of an accuser; Accus′atory, containing accusation.—n. Accuse (Shak.), accusation.—p.adj. Accused′, charged with a crime: usually as a n., the person accused.—ns. Accuse′ment (Spens.), a charge; Accus′er, one who accuses or brings a charge against another. [O. Fr. acuser—L. accusāread, to, causa, cause.]

British National Corpus

  1. Verbs Frequency

    Rank popularity for the word 'accuse' in Verbs Frequency: #415

Usage in printed sourcesFrom: 

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Numerology

  1. Chaldean Numerology

    The numerical value of accuse in Chaldean Numerology is: 3

  2. Pythagorean Numerology

    The numerical value of accuse in Pythagorean Numerology is: 7

Examples of accuse in a Sentence

  1. Antoni Macierewicz:

    I don't want to rule on whether ... political enemies of the current Russian authorities, who accuse (them) of reaching the highest positions by using armed terror against their own population, are right - perhaps it's not true, but there is no doubt that the (Russian) attack on Georgia was one that was first preceded by internal sabotage, inside of Georgia. There's no doubt that what happened over Smolensk was aimed at depriving Poland of the leadership who led our nation towards independence.

  2. Vice Chancellor Sigmar Gabriel:

    Those who accuse democratically elected politicians of treason, call them 'parties of the system' and menace journalists as 'lying press' - they are very close to the language of the enemies of democracy, the Nazis of the '20s and '30s.

  3. Tim McIntyre:

    This is ripe for the plaintiff’s bar to look for a statistically significant case of brand X, and accuse them of false information with calorie counts.

  4. Elvis Costello:

    If I wrote that song today, maybe I'd think twice about it, that's what my grandfather was called in the British army -- it's historically a fact -- but people hear that word go off like a bell and accuse me of something that I didn't intend.

  5. Yevgeny Strugov:

    They were trying to accuse me of forging my ticket.

Popularity rank by frequency of use

accuse#10000#25600#100000

Translations for accuse

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"accuse." Definitions.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 23 Oct. 2024. <https://www.definitions.net/definition/accuse>.

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    personnel who assist their superior in carrying out an assigned task
    A staff
    B value
    C mediocrity
    D rogue

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