Charge

Word of the Day

You can use the word "charge" when buying something with a credit card:

They charged their purchases with a credit card. (This sentence uses "charge" as a verb.)
Can I charge this? (Can I use my credit card to make a purchase?)
Do you have a charge card? (This question uses "charge" as an adjective.)
Sheila charged everything with her MasterCard.

credit card / charge card

You can also use the word "charge" when asking about the price of something, or when describing any amount of money that’s involved in a purchase:

How much are they charging for admission?
How much do you charge for a repair?
Dan found an extra charge on his bill, but he didn’t know what it was for. (This sentence uses "charge" as a noun.")
There’s no charge for using this website. It’s free.

Another meaning for "charge" is when something or someone moves forward very quickly:

Two armies charged at each other on a battlefield and the result was a bloodbath.
Our company is charging forward with plans for a new line of products.
A rhinoceros charged at full speed towards a couple of tourists taking pictures of it.

a rhinoceros

When a battery runs low on power, it needs to be charged. We also use the word "charge" when describing electricity:

I can feel some sort of an electric charge coming from my laptop. What’s wrong with it?
Is there a place where I can charge my cell phone?
Her phone is fully charged. (The battery is at its capacity–entirely green.)
Doug needs to charge the batteries for his camera.
The dead battery in Nicoletta’s car needs to be recharged.

Put the preposition "in" before "charge" and you get "in charge." Use this when assigning responsibility:

Who’s in charge of making decisions in your office?
Parents in charge of a lot of children are constantly busy.
The manager in charge of the store apologized to the customer who was treated unfairly.

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November 26, 2012