Chapter Impalpably to Impeachment of I by Webster's Dictionary (1913 Edition)

4. (Law) To challenge or discredit the credibility of, as of a witness, or the validity of, as of commercial paper.

When used in law with reference to a witness, the term signifies, to discredit, to show or prove unreliable or unworthy of belief; when used in reference to the credit of witness, the term denotes, to impair, to lessen, to disparage, to destroy. The credit of a witness may be impeached by showing that he has made statements out of court contradictory to what he swears at the trial, or by showing that his reputation for veracity is bad, etc.

Syn. — To accuse; arraign; censure; criminate; indict; impair; disparage; discredit. See Accuse.

Impeach
(Im*peach"), n. Hindrance; impeachment. [Obs.]

Impeachable
(Im*peach"a*ble) a. That may be impeached; liable to impeachment; chargeable with a crime.

Owners of lands in fee simple are not impeachable for waste.

Z. Swift.

Impeacher
(Im*peach"er) n. One who impeaches.

Impeachment
(Im*peach"ment) n. [Cf. F. empêchement.] The act of impeaching, or the state of being impeached; as: (a) Hindrance; impediment; obstruction. [Obs.]

Willing to march on to Calais,
Without impeachment.

Shak.

(b) A calling to account; arraignment; especially, of a public officer for maladministration.

The consequence of Coriolanus' impeachment had like to have been fatal to their state.

Swift.

(c) A calling in question as to purity of motives, rectitude of conduct, credibility, etc.; accusation; reproach; as, an impeachment of motives. Shak.

In England, it is the privilege or right of the House of Commons to impeach, and the right of the House of Lords to try and determine impeachments. In the United States, it is the right of the House of Representatives to impeach, and of the Senate to try and determine impeachments.

Articles of impeachment. See under Article. — Impeachment of waste (Law), restraint from, or accountability for, injury; also, a suit for damages for injury. Abbott.