allegeverb [ T ]
uk/əˈledʒ/us/əˈledʒ/formalC2 to say that someone has done something illegal or wrong without giving proof:
[ + (that) ] The two men allege (that) the police forced them to make false confessions.
[ + to infinitive ] She is alleged to have been at the centre of an international drug ring.
[ + that ] It was alleged that Johnson had struck Mr Rahim on the head.
More examples
- The prosecution alleged that he lured the officer to his death by making an emergency call.
- It has been alleged that the minister received a secret payoff from an arms dealer.
- The woman alleged rape, but Reeves insisted it was consensual.
- Campaigners now have compelling documentary evidence of the human rights abuses that they had been alleging for several years.
- The woman alleges that her employers passed her over for promotion because she was pregnant.
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Blaming & accusing
- a bad workman blames his tools idiom
- accusation
- accusatory
- accusing
- allegation
- attribute
- attribution
- carry
- chalk sth up
- charge
- contributory negligence
- face the music idiom
- finger-pointing
- frame
- hang
- indictment
- opprobrium
- recrimination
- stitch sb up
- thank sb for sth idiom
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