impeachment

[ im-peech-muhnt ]
See synonyms for impeachment on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. the impeaching of a public official before an appropriate tribunal.

  2. (in Congress or a state legislature) the presentation of formal charges against a public official by the lower house, trial to be before the upper house.

  1. demonstration that a witness is less worthy of belief.

  2. the act of impeaching.

  3. the state of being impeached.

Origin of impeachment

1
1350–1400; Middle English empechement<Anglo-French. See impeach, -ment

Other words from impeachment

  • non·im·peach·ment, noun

Words Nearby impeachment

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use impeachment in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for impeachment

impeachment

/ (ɪmˈpiːtʃmənt) /


noun
  1. rare (in England) committal by the House of Commons, esp of a minister of the Crown, for trial by the House of Lords. The last instance occurred in 1805

  2. (in the US) a proceeding brought against a federal government official

  1. an accusation or charge

  2. obsolete discredit; reproach

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Cultural definitions for impeachment

impeachment

A formal accusation of wrongdoing against a public official. According to the United States Constitution, the House of Representatives can vote to impeach an official, but the Senate actually tries the case. Several presidencies have been blemished by impeachment or the threat of impeachment: President Andrew Johnson was impeached after the Civil War but was acquitted. President Richard Nixon resigned from office as the House of Representatives prepared to initiate impeachment proceedings. President William Jefferson Clinton was impeached in 1998 but was acquitted by the Senate the following year.

The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.