charge (redirected from charges)

*charge (of someone or something)

control of someone or something; the responsibility for caring for someone or something. (*Typically: take ~; have ~; give someone ~.) How long have you had charge of this office? He took charge of the entire company.

*in the care of someone and *in the charge of someone; *in someone's care; *under someone's care

in the keeping of someone. (*Typically: be ~; leave someone or something ~; place someone or something [into] ~.) I left the baby in the care of my mother. I placed the house into the care of my friend.

See also: care

bring a charge against someone or something

to file a complaint against someone or a group; to begin a legal process against someone or a group. (A charge can also be charges even if only one charge is involved.) We brought a charge against the town council. Sam brought charges against Jeff.

See also: against, bring

charge (something) for something

to set a price in payment for something. You are charging too much for this. You really shouldn't charge for it at all.

charge someone or something (with) something

to make someone or a group pay the cost of something. I will have to charge Bill with the cost of repairs. The manager will charge your account with about forty dollars.

charge someone up

to excite someone; to make a person enthusiastic about something. (See also charged up.) The speaker charged up the crowd. He reread the report, hoping to charge himself up enough to make some positive comments.

See also: up

charge someone with something 

1. to place criminal charges against someone. The police charged Max with robbery.

2. to order someone to do a particular task. The president charged him with organizing the meeting. We charged her with locating new office space.

charge something against something

to debit or assign the cost of something against something. Can I charge this item against the entertainment account? Don't even try to charge it against your business expenses.

See also: against

charge something off as something

to consider something a legitimate expense and deduct it from one's taxes; to assign something to the tax loss category in accounting. I will have to charge this off as a loss. Try to charge it off as a business expense.

charge something on something 

1. to put the cost of something on a credit card or credit account. I would like to charge this purchase on my credit card. What card do you want to charge it on?

2. to demand the payment of interest or a penalty on something. They charged an enormous amount of interest on the loan. The bank charged a penalty on the late payment.

charge something up to someone or something and charge something up

to place the cost of something on the account of someone or a group. (Also without up.) I will have to charge this up to your account. Do you have to charge this to my account? Are you ready to charge up the total to my bill?

See also: up

charge at someone or something

to move quickly forward to attack someone or something. The elephant charged at the hunter. I was afraid that the water buffalo was going to charge our vehicle.

charge down on someone or something

[for an animal or vehicle] to race or move quickly against someone or something. The angry elephant charged down on the hunters. The speeding truck charged down on the small shed.

charge in (to some place)

to move quickly or run wildly into a place. The people charged into the store on the day of the sale. They all charged in trying to be first in line.

Charge it to the dust and let the rain settle it.

Rur. Do not expect to be paid for this. (A humorous answer to a question like, "Who is going to pay for this?") Tom: Who's going to pay me all that money you owe? Mary: Charge it to the dust and let the rain settle it!

See also: and, dust, let, rain, settle

charge off

to move quickly or run away. He got angry and charged off. Juan charged off to talk to the boss.

charge out (of some place)

to move quickly or stomp out of some place. Carol charged out of the house, trying to catch Sally before she got on the bus. Juan got mad and suddenly charged out.

See also: out

charged up 

1. Lit. [of something such as a battery] full of electrical power. The battery is completely charged up. If the battery isn't charged, the car won't start.

2. Fig. [of someone] excited; enthusiastic. The crowd was really charged up. Tom is so tired that he cannot get charged up about anything.

See also: up

get a charge out of someone or something and get a bang out of someone or something; get a kick out of someone or something

to receive special pleasure from someone or something. I really got a charge out of that comedian's routine. Tom is really funny. I always get a kick out of his jokes. Bill really got a bang out of the present we gave him.

See also: get, out

give someone a bang and give someone a charge; give someone a kick

Fig. Inf. to give someone a bit of excitement. John always gives me a bang. The whole afternoon, with all its silliness, gave me a charge anyway.

See also: bang, give

in charge (of someone or something)

in control of someone or something; having the responsibility for someone or something. Who is in charge of this office? Do you like being in charge?

level a charge against someone

Fig. to place a charge against someone; to accuse someone of something. The neighbors leveled a disturbance of the peace charge against us. The cops leveled an assault charge against Max.

See also: against, level

press charges (against someone) and file charges (against someone)

Fig. to make a formal charge of wrongdoing against someone. They agreed not to press charges against me if I agreed to pay for the damages.

See also: press

take charge (of someone or something)

to take (over) control of someone or something. The president came in late and took charge of the meeting. When the new manager took charge, things really began to happen.

See also: take

---

charged up

excited and full of energy Tim was so charged up about tomorrow's game, he couldn't sleep.

See also: up

get a charge out of something (spoken)

to enjoy something very much get a kick out of something He still gets a charge out of being able to please his audience.

See also: get, out

in charge (of something)

responsible for something Who's in charge here? Now that Mr. Bully has been fired, I wonder who will be in charge of the office.

take charge (of something)

to do something to control a situation or organization Germany, Switzerland, and France still have the best teams, and they will take charge of these games. When the union needed someone to clean up its finances, I took charge of the whole mess.

See also: take