Definition of "gravamen" [‖Gra•va•men]

• Law The part of a charge or an accusation that weighs most substantially against the accused. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "An open pocketbook will easily secure a petition for pardon, it makes but little difference as to the "gravamen" of the crime."
• "The Centcom leadership also briefed the chair of the US joint chiefs-of-staff, Admiral Mike Mullen: the gravamen was the pervasive view in the region that Israel's hardline determination to establish even greater control over the West Bank and Gaza was unopposed by an impotent Washington (see Akiva Eldar, ""
• "Either that, the GOP loses any legitimate gravamen to decry the campaign tactics of Rahm Emannuel or Chuckie Schumer."