4 definitions found

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

accused

noun: a defendant in a criminal proceeding

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:

Accuse \Ac*cuse"\, verb (used with an object) [imp. & p. p. {Accused}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Accusing}.] [OF. acuser, F. accuser, L. accusare, to call to account, accuse; ad + causa cause, lawsuit. Cf. {Cause}.]

1. To charge with, or declare to have committed, a crime or offense; (Law) to charge with an offense, judicially or by a public process; -- with of; as, to accuse one of a high crime or misdemeanor.

Neither can they prove the things whereof they now accuse me. --Acts xxiv. 13.

We are accused of having persuaded Austria and Sardinia to lay down their arms. --Macaulay.

2. To charge with a fault; to blame; to censure.

Their thoughts the meanwhile accusing or else excusing one another. --Rom. ii. 15.

3. To betray; to show. [R.] --Sir P. Sidney.

Syn: To charge; blame; censure; reproach; criminate; indict; impeach; arraign.

Usage: To {Accuse}, {Charge}, {Impeach}, {Arraign}. These words agree in bringing home to a person the imputation of wrongdoing. To accuse is a somewhat formal act, and is applied usually (though not exclusively) to crimes; as, to accuse of treason. Charge is the most generic. It may refer to a crime, a dereliction of duty, a fault, etc.; more commonly it refers to moral delinquencies; as, to charge with dishonesty or falsehood. To arraign is to bring (a person) before a tribunal for trial; as, to arraign one before a court or at the bar public opinion. To impeach is officially to charge with misbehavior in office; as, to impeach a minister of high crimes. Both impeach and arraign convey the idea of peculiar dignity or impressiveness.

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:

Accused \Ac*cused"\, adjective Charged with offense; as, an accused person.

Note: Commonly used substantively; as, the accused, one charged with an offense; the defendant in a criminal case.

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

24 Moby Thesaurus words for "accused": arraigned, blamed, charged, cited, correspondent, defendant, denounced, impeached, implicated, impugned, in complicity, incriminated, inculpated, indicted, involved, libelee, prisoner, reproached, respondent, suspect, tasked, taxed, under attack, under fire

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