charge vs excuse

charge

verb
  • To formally accuse (a person) of a crime. 

  • To cause to take on an electric charge. 

  • To move forward quickly and forcefully, particularly in combat and/or on horseback. 

  • To place a burden, load or responsibility on or in. 

  • To assign (a debit) to an account. 

  • To load equipment with material required for its use, as a firearm with powder, a fire hose with water, a chemical reactor with raw materials. 

  • To pay on account, as by using a credit card. 

  • To attack by moving forward quickly in a group. 

  • To call to account; to challenge. 

  • To impute or ascribe. 

  • To replenish energy to (a battery, or a device containing a battery) by use of an electrical device plugged into a power outlet. 

  • To commit a charging foul. 

  • To add to or represent on. 

  • To take a few steps down the pitch towards the bowler as they deliver the ball, either to disrupt the length of the delivery, or to get into a better position to hit the ball. 

  • To lie on the belly and be still. (A command given by a hunter to a dog) 

  • To require payment (of) (a price or fee, for goods, services, etc.). 

  • To ornament with or cause to bear. 

  • To assume as a bearing. 

  • To replenish energy. 

  • To assign a duty or responsibility to. 

noun
  • An instruction. 

  • Someone or something entrusted to one's care, such as a child to a babysitter or a student to a teacher. 

  • A measured amount of powder and/or shot in a cartridge. 

  • A load or burden; cargo. 

  • A ground attack against a prepared enemy. 

  • The amount of money levied for a service. 

  • The scope of someone's responsibility. 

  • A forceful forward movement. 

  • An address given at a church service concluding a visitation. 

  • An official description (by the police or a court) of a crime that somebody may be guilty of. 

  • A position (of a weapon) fitted for attack. 

  • A sort of plaster or ointment. 

  • An electric charge. 

  • An image displayed on an escutcheon. 

  • Cannabis. 

  • An accusation by a person or organization. 

  • A measured amount of explosive. 

  • An offensive foul in which the player with the ball moves into a stationary defender. 

excuse

verb
  • To provide an excuse for; to explain, with the aim of alleviating guilt or negative judgement. 

  • To forgive; to pardon. 

  • To relieve of an imputation by apology or defense; to make apology for as not seriously evil; to ask pardon or indulgence for. 

  • To allow to leave, or release from any obligation. 

noun
  • Explanation designed to avoid or alleviate guilt or negative judgment; a plea offered in extenuation of a fault. 

  • A defense to a criminal or civil charge wherein the accused party admits to doing acts for which legal consequences would normally be appropriate, but asserts that special circumstances relieve that party of culpability for having done those acts. 

  • An example of something that is substandard or of inferior quality. 

How often have the words charge and excuse occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )