Ac-cŭrse'1, v. t.
(34), v. t. [Prefix ac, for ad, and curse.] To devote to destruction; to imprecate misery or evil upon.
Hildebrand accursed and cast down from his throne Henry IV. Raleigh.
3 entries under this word
Accuse
Ac-cūse'2, n.
n. Accusation. [Obs.] “By false accuse doth level at my life.” Shak.
Ac-cūse'3, v. t.
(29), v. t. [imp. & p. p. ACCUSED; p. pr. & vb. n. ACCUSING.] [Lat. accusare, from ad and causa, cause, lawsuit; causari, to conduct a cause in law, to plead; Fr. accuser, Pr. & Sp. acusar, Pr. & Pg. accusar, It. accusare.]
Sense 1. To charge with, or declare to have committed a crime or offense; in law, to charge with an offense, judicially or by a public process; as, to accuse one of a high crime or misdemeanor.
Nor can they prove the things whereof they accuse me. Acts xxiv. 13.
Sense 2. To charge with a fault; to blame; to censure.
Their thoughts in the meanwhile accusing or else excusing one another. Rom. ii. 15.
Synonyms—To charge; blame; censure; indict; impeach; arraign.—To ACCUSE, CHARGE, IMPEACH, ARRAIGN. These words agree in bringing home to a person the imputation of wrong-doing. To accuse is a somewhat formal act, and is applied usually (though not exclusively) to crimes; as, to accuse of treason. Charge is informal, referring more commonly to moral delinquencies; as, to charge with dishonesty or falsehood. Arraign is the bringing of a person before a tribunal for trial; as, to arraign one before a court or at the bar of public opinion. Impeach is simply a word of more dignity than arraign; as, to impeach a minister of high crimes; to impeach one's motives. It shows the curious changes which take place in language, that peach, which was originally the same as impeach, is now one of our lowest words for accuse, and is used only among thieves, &c.