Meaning of charge In English

• 0 to ask an amount of money for something, especially a service or activity:

  • How much/What do you charge for a haircut and blow-dry?

  • The bank charged commission to change my traveller's cheques.

  • [ + two objects ] They charge you $20 just to get in the nightclub.

  • The local museum doesn't charge for admission.

  • Charge the bill to my account, please.

  • Shall we charge the flowers to your account?

• 1 (of the police) to make a formal statement saying that someone is accused of a crime:

  • She's been charged with murder.

  • She is charged with murdering her husband.

  • The paper charged her with using the company's money for her own purposes.

• 2 to move forward quickly and violently, especially towards something that has caused difficulty or anger:

  • The bull lowered its horns and charged.

  • The violence began when the police charged (at) a crowd of demonstrators.

  • I've been charging about/around all day and I'm exhausted.

  • He came charging up the stairs to tell me the good news.

• 3 to put enough explosive into a gun to fire it once

• 4 to order someone to do something:

  • He was charged with taking care of the premises.

• 5 to put electricity into an electrical device such as a battery:

  • She drove the car round the block to charge (up) its batteries.

  • It's not working - I don't think the battery is charging.

• 6 the amount of money that you have to pay for something, especially for an activity or service:

  • Is there a charge for children or do they go free?

  • There's an admission charge of £5.

  • They fixed my watch free of charge.

• 7 a formal police statement saying that someone is accused of a crime:

  • The 19-year-old will be appearing in court on Thursday where she will face criminal charges.

  • He has been arrested on a charge of murder.

  • The police brought a charge of theft against him.

  • The police have had to drop (= stop) charges against her because they couldn't find any evidence.

  • He claimed he had been arrested on a trumped-up (= false) charge.

  • [ + that ] The president responded angrily to the charge that she had lost touch with her country's people.

  • Her refusal to condemn the violence laid/left her open to the charge of positive support for the campaign (= allowed people to say that she supported it).

• 8 being the person who has control of or is responsible for someone or something:

  • Who will be in charge of the department when Sophie leaves?

  • I left Jack in charge of the suitcases while I went to get the tickets.

  • Her ex-husband has charge of the children during the week and she has them at the weekend.

  • His boss asked him to take charge of the office for a few days while she was away.

• 9 the amount of explosive to be fired at one time, or the bullet or other explosive object shot from a gun

• 10 an attack in which people or animals suddenly run forward:

  • a charge of buffalo/elephants

  • a police charge

• 11 an order to do something

• 12 the amount or type of electricity that an electrical device stores or that a substance carries:

  • My phone had run out of charge.

  • The electron has a negative charge and the proton has a positive charge.

  • Is it all right to leave/put the battery on charge overnight?

• 13 to ask for a price for something:

  • [ T ] I think they charge too much for football tickets.

• 14 to buy something and agree to pay for it later:

  • I didn’t have any cash, so I charged the food.

• 15 to accuse someone of something, esp. to officially accuse someone of a crime:

  • He was charged with resisting arrest.

• 16 to move forward quickly, esp. to attack:

  • [ T ] When the batter was hit with the pitch, he dropped his bat and charged the pitcher.

• 17 to put electrical energy into a storage device such as a battery :

  • [ I ] It takes several hours for my laptop’s batteries to charge.

• 18 to instruct (the people deciding a legal case) what the law is in a particular case:

  • The judge charged the jury before deliberations began.

• 19 responsibility for the control of something or the care of someone:

  • Marilyn agreed to take charge of fundraising.

• 20 the amount of explosive to be fired at one time

• 21 the amount of electricity that an electrical device stores or carries

• 22 to ask for a particular amount of money for something, especially a service or activity:

  • charge (sb) sth for sth How much will you charge us for shipping and handling?

  • They charged $200 for insurance.

  • charge (sb) for sth We do not charge you for this service.

  • charge a price/fee, etc. He considered that the price they were charging was fair.

  • The bank charges a commission to withdraw money from a foreign ATM.

• 23 to pay for something by credit card:

  • I don't have any cash - I'll charge it.

• 24 if you charge something to someone's account , the amount they have spent is recorded and they pay for it at a later time:

  • Charge the bill to my account, please.

• 25 to record something as a cost in a financial account:

  • charge sth to sth The depreciation is charged to the profit and loss account.

• 26 to make a formal statement saying that someone is accused of a crime:

  • charge sb with sth The property developer was charged with fraud.

• 27 to publicly accuse someone of having done something bad:

  • charge sb with sth The newspaper charged him with misleading the public about the seriousness of the situation.

• 28 to ask someone to do a particular job:

  • be charged with sth The committee has been charged with developing a new funding formula.

• 29 the amount of money that you have to pay for something, especially for a service:

  • make/impose/incur a charge If you fail to cancel the booking within the specified period, you will incur a charge.

  • charge for sb/sth Is there a charge for children or do they go free?

  • small/nominal charge We make a nominal charge for this service.

  • high charges Small investors are put off by the high charges for this sort of account

  • There will be a one-off charge of £30.

  • Interest charges on an overdraft are usually quite high.

  • We will deliver to your home free of charge.

• 30 a cost that is recorded in a company's financial accounts:

  • take a charge for sth The company expects to take a charge for various expenses relating to the acquisition.

  • Depreciation is treated as a charge in the profit and loss account.

• 31 →  charge on assets :

  • a mortgage, or other charge against the property

• 32 a formal statement accusing someone of committing a crime:

  • bring a charge against sb Charges were brought against the UK company under the Corporate Manslaughter and Homicide Act.

  • on a charge of sth She was arrested on a charge of fraud.

  • criminal charges

  • He was taken into custody but released without charge.

• 33 a statement that someone has done something bad:

  • He responded angrily to the charge that he had not acted in the best interests of the company.

• 34 in control of or responsible for someone or something:

  • Who will be in charge of the department when Sophie leaves?

  • From now on, Steve is in charge.

  • leave sb in charge (of sth) He was on vacation and had left his deputy in charge.

  • put sb in charge (of sth) I put Jack in charge of making the travel arrangements.

• 35 to take control of something or of a group of people:

  • His boss asked him to take charge of the office for a few days while she was away.