Adjacent Words

Swear definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

SWEAR, v.i. pret. swore. [Eng. veer; L. assevero.]
1. To affirm or utter a solemn declaration, with an appeal to God for the truth of what is affirmed.
Ye shall not swear by my name falsely. Leviticus 19.
But I say unto you, swear not at all. Matthew 5.
2. To promise upon oath.
Jacob said, swear to me this day; and he swore to him. Genesis 25.
3. To give evidence an oath; as, to swear to the truth of a statement. He swore that the prisoner was not present at the riot.
4. To be profane; to practice profaneness.
Certain classes of men are accustomed to swear. For men to swear is sinful, disreputable and odious; but for females or ladies to swear, appears more abominable and scandalous.
SWEAR, v.t. To utter or affirm with a solemn appeal to God for the truth of the declaration; as, to swear on oath. [This seems to have been the primitive use of swear; that is, to affirm.]
1. To put to an oath; to cause to take an oath; as, to swear witnesses in court; to swear a jury; the witness has been sworn; the judges are sworn into office.
2. To declare or charge upon oath; as, to swear treason against a man.
3. To obtest by an oath.
Now by Apollo, king, thou swear'st thy gods in vain.
To swear the peace against one, to make oath that one is under the actual fear of death or bodily harm from the person; in which case the person must find sureties of the peace.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

v
1: utter obscenities or profanities; "The drunken men were cursing loudly in the street" [syn: curse, cuss, blaspheme, swear, imprecate]
2: to declare or affirm solemnly and formally as true; "Before God I swear I am innocent" [syn: affirm, verify, assert, avow, aver, swan, swear]
3: promise solemnly; take an oath
4: make a deposition; declare under oath [syn: swear, depose, depone]
5: have confidence or faith in; "We can trust in God"; "Rely on your friends"; "bank on your good education"; "I swear by my grandmother's recipes" [syn: trust, swear, rely, bank] [ant: distrust, mistrust, suspect]

Merriam Webster's

I. verb (swore; sworn; swearing) Etymology: Middle English sweren, from Old English swerian; akin to Old High German swerien to swear and perhaps to Old Church Slavic svar? quarrel Date: before 12th century transitive verb 1. to utter or take solemnly (an oath) 2. a. to assert as true or promise under oath <a sworn affidavit> <swore to uphold the Constitution> b. to assert or promise emphatically or earnestly <swore he'd study harder next time> 3. a. to put to an oath ; administer an oath to b. to bind by an oath <swore them to secrecy> 4. obsolete to invoke the name of (a sacred being) in an oath 5. to bring into a specified state by swearing <swore his life away> intransitive verb 1. to take an oath 2. to use profane or obscene language ; curse • swearer noun II. noun Date: 14th century oath, swearword

Oxford Reference Dictionary

v. & n. --v. (past swore; past part. sworn) 1 tr. a (often foll. by to + infin. or that + clause) state or promise solemnly or on oath. b take (an oath). 2 tr. colloq. say emphatically; insist (swore he had not seen it). 3 tr. cause to take an oath (swore them to secrecy). 4 intr. (often foll. by at) use profane or indecent language, esp. as an expletive or from anger. 5 tr. (often foll. by against) make a sworn affirmation of (an offence) (swear treason against). 6 intr. (foll. by by) a appeal to as a witness in taking an oath (swear by Almighty God). b colloq. have or express great confidence in (swears by yoga). 7 intr. (foll. by to; usu. in neg.) admit the certainty of (could not swear to it). 8 intr. (foll. by at) colloq. (of colours etc.) fail to harmonize with. --n. a spell of swearing. Phrases and idioms: swear blind colloq. affirm emphatically. swear in induct into office etc. by administering an oath. swear off colloq. promise to abstain from (drink etc.). swear-word a profane or indecent word, esp. uttered as an expletive. Derivatives: swearer n. Etymology: OE swerian f. Gmc, rel. to ANSWER

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Swear Swear, v. t. 1. To utter or affirm with a solemn appeal to God for the truth of the declaration; to make (a promise, threat, or resolve) under oath. Swear unto me here by God, that thou wilt not deal falsely with me. --Gen. xxi. 23. He swore consent to your succession. --Shak. 2. (Law) To put to an oath; to cause to take an oath; to administer an oath to; -- ofetn followed by in or into; as, to swear witnesses; to swear a jury; to swear in an officer; he was sworn into office. 3. To declare or charge upon oath; as, he swore treason against his friend. --Johnson. 4. To appeal to by an oath. Now, by Apollo, king, Thou swear'st thy gods in vain. --Shak. To swear the peace against one, to make oath that one is under the actual fear of death or bodily harm from the person, in which case the person must find sureties that he will keep the peace.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Swear Swear, v. i. [imp. Swore, formerly Sware; p. p. Sworn; p. pr. & vb. n. Swearing.] [OE. swerien, AS. swerian; akin to D. zweren, OS. swerian, OHG. swerien, G. schw["o]ren, Icel. sverja, Sw. sv["a]rja, Dan. sv[ae]rge, Icel. & Sw. svara to answer, Dan. svare, Dan. & Sw. svar an answer, Goth. swaran to swear, and perhaps to E. swarm. [root]177. Cf. Answer.] 1. To affirm or utter a solemn declaration, with an appeal to God for the truth of what is affirmed; to make a promise, threat, or resolve on oath; also, to affirm solemnly by some sacred object, or one regarded as sacred, as the Bible, the Koran, etc. Ye shall swear by my name falsely. --Lev. xix. 12. I swear by all the Roman gods. --Shak. 2. (Law) To give evidence on oath; as, to swear to the truth of a statement; he swore against the prisoner. 3. To make an appeal to God in an irreverant manner; to use the name of God or sacred things profanely; to call upon God in imprecation; to curse. [I] swore little; diced not above seven times a week. --Shak. To swear by, to place great confidence in a person or thing; to trust implicitly as an authority. ``I simply meant to ask if you are one of those who swear by Lord Verulam.'' --Miss Edgeworth. To swear off, to make a solemn vow, or a serious resolution, to abstain from something; as, to swear off smoking. [Slang]

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(swears, swearing, swore, sworn) 1. If someone swears, they use language that is considered to be rude or offensive, usually because they are angry. It's wrong to swear and shout... They swore at them and ran off. VERB: V, V at n 2. If you swear to do something, you promise in a serious way that you will do it. Alan swore that he would do everything in his power to help us... We have sworn to fight cruelty wherever we find it... The police are the only civil servants who have to swear allegiance to the Crown... I have sworn an oath to defend her. VERB: V that, V to-inf, V n, V n 3. If you say that you swear that something is true or that you can swear to it, you are saying very firmly that it is true. I swear I've told you all I know... I swear on all I hold dear that I had nothing to do with this... Behind them was a confusion of noise, perhaps even a shot, but he couldn't swear to it. VERB: V that, V on/by n that, V to n [emphasis] 4. If someone is sworn to secrecy or is sworn to silence, they promise another person that they will not reveal a secret. She was bursting to announce the news but was sworn to secrecy. VERB: usu passive, be V-ed to n 5. see also sworn

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

I. v. n. 1. Utter an oath, take oath, take an oath. 2. Declare (solemnly), avow, affirm, depose, testify, state, say, vow. 3. Use profane language, take the name of God in vain, curse, blaspheme. II. v. a. Administer an oath to, put under oath.

Moby Thesaurus

abjure, abuse, acknowledge, adjure, administer an oath, affirm, agree, allege, and candle, assert, assert under oath, asseverate, assure, attest, aver, avoid, avouch, avow, bear witness, believe in, blaspheme, book, certify, confess, count on, countersign, covenant, curse, curse and swear, cuss, declare, depone, depose, disclose, dysphemize, eschew, execrate, expletive, express the belief, forgo, forsake, forswear, give evidence, give up, go off, guarantee, have confidence in, imprecate, insist, kiss the book, make a promise, oath, pledge, plight, profess, promise, put under oath, put upon oath, rely on, renounce, scatologize, shun, state, swear by, swear by bell, swear in, swear off, swear the truth, swear to, swear to God, swear to goodness, talk dirty, testify, throw over, troth, trust in, undertake, underwrite, use language, vilify, vouch, vouchsafe, vow, warrant, witness