\Ac*cuse"\, n.
Accusation. [Obs.] --Shak.

\Ac*cuse"\, v. t. [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. [L.]                    --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.