<B>charge d'affaires, </B>pl. <B>charges d'affaires.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a diplomatic official in charge of an embassy or legation during the absence of an ambassador, minister, or other diplomat. <DD><B> 2. </B>a diplomatic official of inferior rank, sent to a state to which an ambassador or minister is not appointed. </DL>
<A NAME="chargehand">
<B>chargehand, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (British.) a workman in charge of a group of workmen; foreman. </DL>
<A NAME="chargenurse">
<B>charge nurse,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a nurse charged with the supervision of a hospital ward. </DL>
<A NAME="chargeoff">
<B>charge-off, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> the treatment of bad debts, depreciation, cost of research, or the like, as losses, especially for tax purposes. </DL>
<A NAME="chargeplate">
<B>charge plate,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a small plastic plate stamped with the bearer's identification, formerly used to charge retail purchases in a store. </DL>
<A NAME="charger">
<B>charger</B> (1), noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a horse ridden in war; mount. <DD><B> 2a. </B>a person or thing that charges. <DD><B> b. </B>a device that gives an electrical charge to storage batteries. </DL>
<A NAME="charger">
<B>charger</B> (2), noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (Archaic.) <DD><B> 1. </B>a large flat dish, especially a platter for meat. <BR> <I>Ex. And she ... said, Give me here John Baptist's head in a charger (Matthew 14:8).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>a large vessel for liquids. </DL>
<A NAME="chargesheet">
<B>charge-sheet, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (British.) a police blotter. </DL>
<A NAME="charging">
<B>charging, </B>noun, adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> the act of loading; filling. <DD><I>adj. </I> that charges. </DL>
<A NAME="chariot">
<B>chariot, </B>noun, verb.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>a two-wheeled carriage pulled by horses. The chariot was used in ancient times for fighting, for racing, and in processions. <BR> <I>Ex. Nearly 4,000 years ago, the Hittites ... developing the lightest and fastest chariots of the times ... fought at length with Egypt (Newsweek).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>a four-wheeled, closed carriage with a single inside seat for two or three persons, used particularly on state occasions in the 1700's. <DD><B> 3. </B>(Figurative.) any stately vehicle; a triumphal car, such as that in which the sun or moon is represented as pursuing their courses. <DD><B> 4. </B>(Slang.) an old, especially large, car. <DD><B> 5. </B>(Obsolete, Figurative.) a vehicle. <BR> <I>Ex. He ... maketh the clouds his chariots (English Book of Common Prayer).</I> <DD><I>v.t. </I> to carry or convey in a chariot. <DD><I>v.i. </I> to drive or ride in a chariot. </DL>
<A NAME="charioteer">
<B>charioteer, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> the person who drives a chariot. </DL>
<A NAME="charioteer">
<B>Charioteer, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> the constellation Auriga. </DL>
<A NAME="chariotry">
<B>chariotry, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> that part of an army which fought from chariots. </DL>
<A NAME="charism">
<B>charism, </B>noun. <B>=charisma.</B></DL>
<A NAME="charisma">
<B>charisma, </B>noun, pl. <B>-mata.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a personal appeal or power to fascinate and attract others; mysterious power of great personal magnetism or glamour. <BR> <I>Ex. the charisma of a popular leader. The magic (or mana, or charisma, or whatever is the fashionable word among sociologists) of a British Prime Minister ... is always less in Britain than the magic of an American President in the U.S.A. (C. P. Snow).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>glamour or sex appeal. <BR> <I>Ex. Marilyn Monroe's unique charisma ... (Time).</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>a spiritual gift or grace giving a person the power of prophesying, healing, and other divine gifts. Also, <B>charism.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="charismatic">
<B>charismatic, </B>adjective, noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>adj. </I> <B>1. </B>having charisma; capable of inspiring great personal allegiance. <BR> <I>Ex. After the astonishing news of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, overnight ... scientists became charismatic figures of a new era (Bulletin of Atomic Scientists).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>of or having to do with charisma. <BR> <I>Ex. India has a dozen leaders whose charismatic appeal falls not so far short of Nehru's (Encounter).</I> <DD><I>noun </I> a person possessing, or said to possess, the power of prophesying, healing, or other charismatic gifts. <BR> <I>Ex. Charismatics of all churches ... stress a personal relationship to Christ.</I> adv. <B>charismatically.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="charitable">
<B>charitable, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>generous in giving help to poor, sick, or helpless people; benevolent and kind. <BR> <I>Ex. He was a charitable man who used his wealth to give contributions to the relief of sickness and poverty.</I> (SYN) bountiful. <DD><B> 2. </B>of charity; for charity. <BR> <I>Ex. The Salvation Army is a charitable organization.</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>kindly in judging people and their actions; lenient. <BR> <I>Ex. Grandfathers are usually charitable toward the mistakes of grandchildren.</I> (SYN) tolerant, considerate. noun <B>charitableness.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="charitably">
<B>charitably, </B>adverb.<DL COMPACT><DD> in a charitable manner; with charity. </DL>
<A NAME="charity">
<B>charity, </B>noun, pl. <B>-ties.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>generous giving to the poor or to organizations which look after the sick, the poor, and the helpless. <BR> <I>Ex. The charity of our citizens enabled the hospital to purchase new beds.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>an act or work of charity. <DD><B> 3a. </B>a fund, institution, or organization for helping the sick, the poor, and the helpless. <BR> <I>Ex. She gives money regularly to the Salvation Army and to other charities.</I> <DD><B> b. </B>that which is given in charity; alms. <DD><B> 4. </B>kindness in judging people's faults. <BR> <I>Ex. ... with malice toward none; with charity for all ... (Abraham Lincoln).</I> <DD><B> 5a. </B>love of one's fellow men. <BR> <I>Ex. The Bible says, "And now abideth faith, hope, and charity, and the greatest of these is charity."</I> <DD><B> b. </B>God's love to man. <DD><B> 6a. </B>natural affection; love (now especially with some notion of generous or spontaneous goodness). <DD><B> b. </B>affections; feelings or acts of affection. <BR><I>expr. <B>cold as charity,</B> <DD><B> a. </B>hard and cold; unfeeling. </I> <I>Ex. Cold is thy heart ... as charity (Robert Southey).</I> <DD><B> b. </B>very cold; freezing. <BR> <I>Ex. The wind is as cold as charity. We are much more comfortable here (Anthony Trollope).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="charityboy">
<B>charity boy</B> or <B>girl,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (Archaic.) a child brought up in an institution. </DL>
<A NAME="charivari">
<B>charivari, </B>noun, pl. <B>-ris.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a mock serenade made by beating on kettles, pans, and the like; shivaree. <DD><B> 2. </B>a confused, discordant medley of sounds. </DL>
<A NAME="charkha">
<B>charkha</B> or <B>charka, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> the hand spinning wheel of India, used chiefly for spinning cotton. </DL>
<A NAME="charlady">
<B>charlady, </B>noun, pl. <B>-dies.</B> <B>=charwoman.</B></DL>
<A NAME="charlatan">
<B>charlatan, </B>noun, adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> a person who pretends to have more knowledge or skill than he really has; quack. (SYN) impostor, mountebank. <DD><I>adj. </I> of or having to do with a charlatan; quack. <BR> <I>Ex. Fortunately, 27 of the patients recognized in time that the charlatan treatment was not helping them (Newsweek).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="charlatanic">
<B>charlatanic, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> having to do with or like a charlatan; quackish. <BR> <I>Ex. charlatanic tricks, a charlatanic boaster.</I> </DL>
<B>charlatanism, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> the practices or methods of a charlatan; quackery. </DL>
<A NAME="charlatanry">
<B>charlatanry, </B>noun, pl. <B>-ries.</B> <B>=charlatanism.</B></DL>
<A NAME="charless">
<B>Charles's</B> or <B>Charles' law,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (Physics.) the law that at constant pressure the volume of a given mass of gas is directly proportional to the absolute temperature. </DL>
<A NAME="charless">
<B>Charles's</B> or <B>Charles' Wain,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (British.) the Big Dipper. </DL>
<A NAME="charleston">
<B>Charleston, </B>noun, verb.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> a lively ballroom dance popular in the 1920's, usually in 4/4 time and characterized especially by side kicks from the knee. <DD><I>v.i. </I> to dance the Charleston. </DL>
<A NAME="charley">
<B>charley</B> or <B>charlie horse,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (Informal.) <DD><B> 1. </B>stiffness, especially of an arm or leg, caused by straining a muscle. <DD><B> 2. </B>a muscle cramp. </DL>
<A NAME="charlie">
<B>Charlie</B> or <B>Charley, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (U.S.) <DD><B> 1. </B>a code name for the letter <I>c</I> in transmitting radio messages. <DD><B> 2. </B>(Slang.) a Vietcong soldier; Victor Charlie. </DL>
<A NAME="charlock">
<B>charlock, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> any one of several weeds of the mustard family, often found in grainfields; wild mustard. </DL>
<A NAME="charlotte">
<B>charlotte, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a dessert made of cake or bread arranged in a mold and filled with fruit or a cream, custard, or gelatin preparation. </DL>
<A NAME="charlotterusse">
<B>charlotte russe,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a dessert made of a mold of sponge cake filled with whipped cream or custard. </DL>
