impeachment

noun6

1. •
   (UK) An accusation that a person has committed a crime against the state, such as treason.

   • Backed by the Treasurer's bitterest enemies he brought charges against Danby. Impeachment followed. There was fresh uproar in the House. — 1923
2. •
   The act of impeaching or charging a public official with misconduct, especially if serious, often with the aim of having the official dismissed from office.

   • In Juazeiro do Norte, demonstrators cornered the mayor inside a bank for hours and called for his impeachment, while thousands of others protested teachers’ salaries. — 2013
3. •
   The state of being impeached.
4. •
   The act of calling into question or challenging the accuracy or propriety of something.

   • And here is as great an adventure as ever I heard of, and here, if we turn back, no little impeachment of all our honours. — 1952
5. •
   A demonstration in a court of law, or before another finder of fact, that a witness was ingenuine before, and is therefore less likely to tell the truth now.
6. •
   (no longer used) Hindrance; impediment; obstruction.

   • Turne thee back, / And tell thy King, I doe not seeke him now, / But could be willing to march on to Callice, / Without impeachment: [...] — 1599