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| im·peach [ im pch ] (past and past participle im·peached, present participle im·peach·ing, 3rd person present singular im·peach·es) |
transitive verb |
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| Definition: |
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1. accuse official of offense: to charge a serving government official with serious misconduct while in office
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2. cast somebody out of public office: to remove somebody such as a president or a judge from public office because of having committed serious crimes and misdemeanors or because of other gross misconduct
(
formal
)
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3. criminal law bring charges against somebody: to charge somebody with a crime or misdemeanor
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4. disparage somebody: to question a person's good character
(
formal
)
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5. U.K. law accuse somebody of serious crime: to accuse somebody of a crime, especially treason or another crime against the state
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| [14th century. Via Old French empecher< late Latin impedicare "entangle" < pedica "snare"] |
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 im·peach·a·ble adjective |
 im·peach·er noun |
 im·peach·ment noun |
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