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What is "swear"

Crossword clues for swear

swear
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
swear
verb
COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES
a swear word
▪ He learned a few swear words on the playground.
a sworn statement (=one that you officially promise is true)
▪ The reports were based on sworn statements of graduates of the terrorist training camp.
swear obedience
▪ Monks swore obedience to the Pope.
swear word
swear/pledge allegiance
▪ I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America.
swear/pledge loyalty (=promise that you will be loyal)
▪ The president's assistants swore their loyalty to him.
swear/take an oath
▪ As children, they took an oath of friendship.
sworn enemies (=enemies who will always hate each other)
▪ The men have been sworn enemies for many years.
COLLOCATIONS FROM CORPUS
■ ADVERB
by
▪ And I don't go in for those terrible exercises that some theatrical actors swear by.
in
▪ Inauguration Walesa was sworn in as President for a five-year term on Dec. 22.
▪ Daley could have gone fishing and come back after the election to be sworn in.
▪ So cold was the day, Taft was sworn in to office in the Senate Chamber.
▪ The unchanged team was sworn in yesterday by King Juan Carlos.
▪ Angelo had to wait 14 months after he applied to be sworn in.
▪ Most also said they voted before they were sworn in.
never
▪ He received the appointment, but Parker himself was never sworn into office.
▪ I did everything stupid twice and came home each time swearing never to do that again.
▪ I had sworn never to call her aunt again, but I did not regret breaking that promise to myself.
▪ Here, she acted different; she never swore or banged things in anger.
▪ After my first I felt totally guilt-ridden and swore never to do it again.
▪ I have solemnly sworn never to repeat them to anyone else, and you well know the reason why.
▪ It's thick and durable but the carpet-layers swore never to work with it again.
▪ Though Mona and Callie both swore never to let them out, Barbie and Ken kept getting loose.
off
▪ Those squirrelly lizards and the prevalence of mosquitoes were why she swore off camping in Hawaii.
▪ They are the traditional white grapes of Hermitage, though some growers have sworn off the notoriously fickle roussanne.
▪ Boycotting Disney is like swearing off salt and sugar.
▪ Anna plans on going to school that next year, but not before swearing off boys.
▪ As a repentant sinner I pledge to swear off this hallucinogen.
softly
▪ His own tightened in anticipation, and he swore softly under his breath.
▪ As she raised a trembling hand to brush them away she heard him swearing softly under his breath.
▪ She swore softly but no one seemed to wake up.
▪ He emerged swearing softly at himself and swaying slightly.
▪ Zack studied Quinn and the assembly strapped to his chest over his shirt, and swore softly but violently.
▪ He wriggled in Jotan's hands, swearing softly in Yek, and then in Keraistani and C'zak.
▪ Behind him the men swore softly, breaking their silence.
■ NOUN
allegiance
▪ In his teens, he learned to drink and swore an allegiance to the pint.
▪ All those present swore allegiance to Aenarion.
▪ Some employers tried to make potential participants swear allegiance to heterosexuality before they would pay their conference fee.
▪ Saving only the fealty which he owed to his father he swore allegiance to Philip against all men.
▪ They have sworn allegiance to the Warbutt now.
breath
▪ His own tightened in anticipation, and he swore softly under his breath.
▪ Kelly swore Kennelly in, and he also swore under his breath.
▪ Major Roland Tuck swore peaceably under his breath.
▪ He swore under his breath and then quickly thrust the sack back into the water.
▪ As she raised a trembling hand to brush them away she heard him swearing softly under his breath.
▪ She wrapped a towel around her and ran to the sitting-room, swearing under her breath.
▪ Still swearing under his breath, Dexter pulled off the cover from the bottom of the boiler and relit the pilot light.
▪ Evans swore beneath his breath and Jack reached out and gripped him in rebuke.
council
▪ At midday, MacDonald went to the palace to be sworn of the Privy Council.
▪ He was sworn of the Privy Council in 1909.
minister
▪ Jayalalitha, the A-IADMK general secretary, was sworn in as Chief Minister on June 24.
office
▪ He received the appointment, but Parker himself was never sworn into office.
▪ The new President was hurriedly sworn into office on Nov. 2.
▪ Smith, eventually sworn into office, gradually emerged as a leader.
▪ When he is sworn into office he will have to pledge his allegiance to the republican constitution.
▪ So cold was the day, Taft was sworn in to office in the Senate Chamber.
▪ Yocum garnered 56. 3 percent of the vote Tuesday, and is expected to be sworn into office June 27.
president
▪ Inauguration Walesa was sworn in as President for a five-year term on Dec. 22.
▪ Denis Sassou-Nguesso was sworn in as president after winning through war the power he could not hold in peace.
▪ Lissouba was sworn in as President on Aug. 31.
▪ Ryan and his family survive and he is sworn in as president by the Secret Service.
▪ The country was returned nominally to civilian rule on Dec. 5, when Ratu Ganilau was sworn in as President.
▪ He was to be sworn in as President on April 3.
secrecy
▪ No, surely he would swear her to secrecy - if he really did agree in the end to Miguel's request.
▪ Amy told no one else except her younger brother Howard, and she swore him to secrecy.
▪ Ranulf was sworn to secrecy, but there was worse to come.
▪ She swore him to secrecy and asked him to build the barrel.
▪ Jett swore me to secrecy, with particular reference to you.
▪ Lois had sworn her to secrecy.
▪ John Thaw says he knows, but is sworn to secrecy.
▪ They swore one another to secrecy.
trooper
▪ Throwing on a dressing-gown and swearing like a trooper, you stumble to answer it.
■ VERB
hear
▪ As she raised a trembling hand to brush them away she heard him swearing softly under his breath.
▪ I've never heard you swear in my life.
▪ The mestizo lost his footing, and Trent heard him slide, swearing.
▪ I heard myself swear out loud.
▪ In fact, in all the time she had known him, she had never heard him swear before.
▪ It is not uncommon for a client on the telephone to hear swearing in the background.
PHRASES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
I swear/hope/wish/pray to God
swear like a trooper
▪ Throwing on a dressing-gown and swearing like a trooper, you stumble to answer it.
swear sb to secrecy
▪ "What's she doing here?" "I'd better not say. She swore me to secrecy."
▪ Mia swore me to secrecy after she told me about the affair.
▪ Nobody knows much about the organization because its members are all sworn to secrecy.
▪ Amy told no one else except her younger brother Howard, and she swore him to secrecy.
▪ He swore his family to secrecy and tried to continue living a normal life, making regular stage appearances and several movies.
▪ Jett swore me to secrecy, with particular reference to you.
▪ Lois had sworn her to secrecy.
▪ No, surely he would swear her to secrecy - if he really did agree in the end to Miguel's request.
▪ She swore him to secrecy and asked him to build the barrel.
▪ They swore one another to secrecy.
sworn enemies
▪ Also playing a key role as protagonists and unlikely allies are two former sworn enemies, both ladinos.
▪ In the Fifties they were sworn enemies.
▪ It is a strange sister party which wants to see Labour's sworn enemies back in power.
▪ More and more the sworn enemies of Tokugawa political power openly flouted Bakufu authority.
▪ One minute they were sworn enemies, the next they were clinging together in fierce mutual desire.
▪ This killer dressed like a popinjay, sweetly singing a madrigal to men he knew were his sworn enemies.
sworn statement/evidence/testimony etc
▪ The application was based on a sworn statement from a lay midwife who said she attended his birth in La Paloma.
▪ The reports were based on sworn statements of graduates of the camp, whose seven-month training including the use of explosives.
▪ This is confirmed by her not going against her sworn statement, unlawfully though it had been extracted from her.
▪ This meant that sworn statements by Mitchell, Stans and others would not be made public before the election.
▪ Years later her parents made a sworn statement testifying that the couple had met in July 1917.
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
▪ Do you swear to tell the truth?
▪ During the ceremony you swear that you will serve the country loyally.
▪ He swore angrily when he realized he'd missed the train.
▪ I've never heard her swear.
▪ I swore to myself that I'd never do anything like it again.
▪ It was a mistake -- she swears that she didn't mean to do it.
▪ New citizens are asked to swear allegiance during the citizenship ceremony.
▪ Officers say the suspect swore at them and threw a punch.
▪ She swears blind that she never met the man.
▪ The plane flew so low that Geoff swears he saw one wing touch the top of a tree.
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
▪ As a repentant sinner I pledge to swear off this hallucinogen.
▪ He swore at me to get out.
▪ In return for our consent, he swore he would give it up the day after he won the election.
▪ Major Roland Tuck swore peaceably under his breath.
▪ Not surprisingly, disruptive behaviour - shouting, swearing and general rowdiness - was sometimes evident.
▪ Yocum garnered 56. 3 percent of the vote Tuesday, and is expected to be sworn into office June 27.
Related phrases:
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Swear

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.

  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. 1

  2. 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]

Swear

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.

Related phrases:
Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
swear

Old English swerian "take an oath" (class VI strong verb; past tense swor, past participle sworen), from Proto-Germanic *swarjan-, (cognates: Old Saxon swerian, Old Frisian swera, Old Norse sverja, Danish sverge, Middle Dutch swaren, Old High German swerien, German schwören, Gothic swaren "to swear"), from PIE root *swer- (1) "to speak, talk, say" (cognates: Old Church Slavonic svara "quarrel," Oscan sverrunei "to the speaker").\n

\nAlso related to the second element in answer. The secondary sense of "use bad language" (early 15c.) developed from the notion of "invoke sacred names." Swear off "desist as with a vow" is from 1898. Swear in "install in office by administration of an oath" is from 1700 in modern use, echoing Old English.

Wiktionary
swear

Etymology 1 vb. 1 (lb en intransitive transitive) To take an oath. 2 (lb en intransitive) To use offensive language. Etymology 2

n. A swearword. Etymology 3

  1. 1 (context UK dialectal English) heavy. 2 (context UK dialectal English) top-heavy; too high. 3 (context UK dialectal English) dull; heavy; lazy; slow; reluctant; unwilling. 4 (context UK dialectal English) niggardly. 5 (context UK dialectal English) A lazy time; a short rest during working hours (especially field labour); a siesta. alt. 1 (context UK dialectal English) heavy. 2 (context UK dialectal English) top-heavy; too high. 3 (context UK dialectal English) dull; heavy; lazy; slow; reluctant; unwilling. 4 (context UK dialectal English) niggardly. 5 (context UK dialectal English) A lazy time; a short rest during working hours (especially field labour); a siesta. v

  2. (context UK dialectal English) To be lazy; rest for a short while during working hours.

Related phrases:
WordNet
swear

  1. v. utter obscenities or profanities; "The drunken men were cursing loudly in the street" [syn: curse, cuss, blaspheme, 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]

  3. promise solemnly; take an oath

  4. make a deposition; declare under oath [syn: 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, rely, bank] [ant: distrust, distrust]

  6. [also: sworn, swore]

Related phrases:
Wikipedia
Swear

Swear or Swearing may refer to:

  • Making an oath, also known as swearing an oath
  • Profanity
Swear (Alan song)

"Swear" is a song recorded by Chinese singer Alan. "Swear" was written by Aico and Yuka Miyagawa and was produced by Kazuhito Kikuchi. The song was used as the theme song of Bourbon's Blanchul Mini Series commercial, in which Alan appears. The PV for the single was shot at Keisei Rose Garden. The B-side, "Beauty", was used as the commercial song for Yomeishu's Re:on Nutrition Drink Product. "Swear" was released as a truetone on September 17, 2009 and was released as a single on the Avex Trax label on November 4, 2009. "Swear" reached a peak of #35 on the weekly Oricon charts, and charted for three weeks.

Swear (Tim Scott McConnell song)

"Swear" was a 1980s pop song by Tim Scott McConnell and released by Sire Records in 1983. The music video to promote the song was a campy/tongue-in-cheek music video of a hippy-based pagan/black mass set in a church. The stylized music video is seemingly a parody of late 1960s to early 1970s hippy horror movies.

McConnell would later comment on the song: "This was my young and confused record...I wrote the songs over a couple of weeks on a little Casio keyboard...Sire heard it and offered me a deal...no use appologising for such a thing...my mistake... the good part of it was working with Richard Gottehrer ...really took me under his wing...shame we were working on the wrong kind of music.."

"Swear" was covered by Sheena Easton for her 1984 album A Private Heaven. It reached #80 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart the following year.

Related phrases:

Usage examples of "swear".

Despite a conservative training--or because of it, for humdrum lives breed wistful longings of the unknown--he swore a great oath to scale that avoided northern cliff and visit the abnormally antique gray cottage in the sky.

Swearing under his breath, Ace hurried to help the abused woman to her feet.

Swearing under his breath, Ace hurried to help the young wife to her feet.

The gentleman having searched the lad, and found the partridge upon him, denounced great vengeance, swearing he would acquaint Mr.

They will find no Pelton, but they will find three women who will swear that, yes, you and your men demanded admittance last night, whereupon you behaved with drunken debauchery, fighting amongst yourselves.

He swore a thousand times that he adored me, that his intentions were honourable.

It was a sworn affidavit by Hermann Graebe, the manager and engineer of a branch office in the Ukraine of a German construction firm.

And, worse, she had betrayed most melancholy signs of sourness and agedness as soon as he had sworn himself to her fast and fixed.

I ask that you swear a new oath to me: to lead this ship to Alcazar and let us aid your guild in ridding your people of this curse.

Cuthan, Earl of Bryn, for Taras and Bru Mardan, and all their thanes, swear to defend the rights of him holding Hen Amas, to march to war under his command, to gather levies and revenues, to acknowledge him lord and sovereign over its claims and courts and to abide by his judgments in all disputes.

I transferred to the corporate world who swore to me when we met a year ago that Amado Carillo Fuentes is still alive.

CHERRYH ance and behavior it was both, and they could not swear to its influence.

In the first place the definite abolition of the annates meant that henceforth the election of archbishops and bishops must be under licence by the king and that they must swear allegiance to him before consecration.

My self-esteem was so wounded by this, and by his impoliteness in not answering my letter, with which he could certainly find no fault, whatever his criticism of my translation might be, that I became the sworn enemy of the great Voltaire.

Mikhail entered the armory to summon his men to the hunt he swore silently.