Adjacent Words

Impeach definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

IMPE'ACH, v.t. [L. pango, pactus.]
1. To hinder; to impede. This sense is found in our early writers.
These ungracious practices of his sons did impeach his journey to the Holy Land.
A defluxion on my throat impeached my utterance.
[This application of the word is obsolete.]
2. To accuse; to charge with a crime or misdemeanor; but appropriately, to exhibit charges of maladministration against a public officer before a competent tribunal, that is, to send or put on, to load. The word is now restricted to accusations made by authority; as, to impeach a judge. [See Impeachment.]
3. To accuse; to censure; to call in question; as, to impeach one's motives or conduct.
4. To call to account; to charge as answerable.
IMPE'ACH, n. Hinderance.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

v
1: challenge the honesty or veracity of; "the lawyers tried to impeach the credibility of the witnesses"
2: charge (a public official) with an offense or misdemeanor committed while in office; "The President was impeached"
3: bring an accusation against; level a charge against; "The neighbors accused the man of spousal abuse" [syn: accuse, impeach, incriminate, criminate]

Merriam Webster's

I. transitive verb Etymology: Middle English empechen, from Anglo-French empecher, enpechier to ensnare, impede, prosecute, from Late Latin impedicare to fetter, from Latin in- + pedica fetter, from ped-, pes foot — more at foot Date: 14th century 1. a. to bring an accusation against b. to charge with a crime or misdemeanor; specifically to charge (a public official) before a competent tribunal with misconduct in office c. to remove from office especially for misconduct 2. to cast doubt on; especially to challenge the credibility or validity of <impeach the testimony of a witness> • impeachable adjective • impeachment noun II. noun Date: 1590 obsolete charge, impeachment

Oxford Reference Dictionary

v.tr. 1 Brit. charge with a crime against the State, esp. treason. 2 US charge (the holder of a public office) with misconduct. 3 call in question, disparage (a person's integrity etc.). Derivatives: impeachable adj. impeachment n. Etymology: ME f. OF empecher impede f. LL impedicare entangle (as IN-(2), pedica fetter f. pes pedis foot)

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Impeach Im*peach", v. t. [imp. & p. p. Impeached; p. pr. & vb. n. Impeaching.] [OE. empeechier to prevent, hinder, bar, F. emp[^e]cher, L. impedicare to entangle; pref. im- in + pedica fetter, fr. pes, pedis, foot. See Foot, and Appeach, Dispatch, Impede.] 1. To hinder; to impede; to prevent. [Obs.] These ungracious practices of his sons did impeach his journey to the Holy Land. --Sir J. Davies. A defluxion on my throat impeached my utterance. --Howell. 2. To charge with a crime or misdemeanor; to accuse; especially to charge (a public officer), before a competent tribunal, with misbehavior in office; to cite before a tribunal for judgement of official misconduct; to arraign; as, to impeach a judge. See Impeachment. 3. Hence, to charge with impropriety; to dishonor; to bring discredit on; to call in question; as, to impeach one's motives or conduct. And doth impeach the freedom of the state. --Shak. 4. (Law) To challenge or discredit the credibility of, as of a witness, or the validity of, as of commercial paper. Note: When used in law with reference to a witness, the term signifies, to discredit, to show or prove unreliable or unworthy of belief; when used in reference to the credit of witness, the term denotes, to impair, to lessen, to disparage, to destroy. The credit of a witness may be impeached by showing that he has made statements out of court contradictory to what he swears at the trial, or by showing that his reputation for veracity is bad, etc. Syn: To accuse; arraign; censure; criminate; indict; impair; disparage; discredit. See Accuse.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Impeach Im*peach", n. Hindrance; impeachment. [Obs.]

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(impeaches, impeaching, impeached) If a court or a group in authority impeaches a president or other senior official, it charges them with committing a crime which makes them unfit for office. ...an opposition move to impeach the President. VERB: V n

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

v. a. 1. Arraign, accuse, indict. 2. Arraign for malfeasance in office, accuse of maladministration. 3. Discredit, asperse, call in question, censure, denounce, disparage, criminate, impair, lessen.

Moby Thesaurus

accuse, allege, anathematize, anathemize, animadvert on, arraign, article, asperse, attack, belittle, blame, book, bring accusation, bring charges, bring to book, call into question, call to account, cast aspersions on, cast blame upon, cast reflection upon, censure, challenge, charge, cite, complain, complain against, condemn, criminate, cry down, cry out against, cry out on, cry shame upon, damn, declaim, decry, denounce, denunciate, deprecate, discredit, disparage, fasten on, fasten upon, file a claim, finger, fulminate against, hang something on, have up, implicate, imply, impugn, impute, incriminate, inculpate, indict, inform against, inform on, insinuate, inveigh against, lay charges, lodge a complaint, lodge a plaint, malign, pin on, prefer charges, press charges, pull up, put on report, reflect upon, report, reprehend, reproach, reprobate, shake up, slander, take to task, task, taunt with, tax, twit, vilify