charge

Universal Words noun, verb noun money 1 [C,U] ~ (for sth) the amount of money that sb asks for goods and services: We have to make a small charge for refreshments. * admission charges * Delivery is free of charge. -< PRICE 2 [C,U] (AmE, informal) = CHARGEACCOUNT, CREDITACCOUNT: Would you like to put that on your charge? * 'Are you paying cash?' 'No, it'll be a charge.' of crime / sth wrong 3 [C,U] an official claim made by the police that sb has committed a crime: criminal charges * a murder / assault charge * He will be sent back to England to face a charge of (= to be on trial for) armed robbery. * They decided to drop the charges against the newspaper and settle out of court. * After being questioned by the police, she was released without charge. * a charge of theft / rape / attempted murder 4 [C] a statement accusing sb of doing sth wrong or bad: She rejected the charge that the story was untrue. * Be careful you don't leave yourself open to charges of political bias. responsibility 5 [U] a position of having control over sb/sth; responsibility for sb/sth: She has charge of the day-to-day running of the business. * They left the au pair in charge of the children for a week. * He took charge of the farm after his father's death. * I'm leaving the school in your charge. 6 [C] (formal or humorous) a person that you have responsibility for and care for electricity 7 [C,U] the amount of electricity that is put into a battery or carried by a substance: a positive / negative charge rush / attack 8 [C] a sudden rush or violent attack, for example by soldiers, wild animals or players of a game such as football: He led the charge down the field. explosive 9 [C] the amount of explosive material needed to fire a gun or make an explosion seealsoDEPTHCHARGE strong feeling 10 [sing.] the power to cause strong feelings: the emotional charge of the piano piece task 11 [sing.] (formal) a task or duty: His charge was to obtain specific information. IDIOMS bring / press / prefer charges against sb (law) to accuse sb formally of a crime so that there can be a trial in a court of law get a charge out of sth (AmE) to get a strong feeling of excitement or pleasure from sth moreatREVERSEv. verb money 1 ~ (sb/sth) for sth