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Swearing   /swˈɛrɪŋ/   Listen
verb
Swear  v. t.  (past swore, formerly sware; past part. sworn; pres. part. swearing)  
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." "He swore consent to your succession."
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.
4.
To appeal to 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 that he will keep the peace.



Swear  v. i.  (past swore, formerly sware; past part. sworn; pres. part. swearing)  
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." "I swear by all the Roman gods."
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."
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."
To swear off, to make a solemn vow, or a serious resolution, to abstain from something; as, to swear off smoking. (Slang)



adjective
Swearing  adj.  A. & n. from Swear, v. "Idle swearing is a cursedness."






Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48








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"Swearing" Quotes from Famous Books



... hunger oppressed all the land greatly. And when the corn that they brought from Egypt was consumed, Jacob said to his sons: Return ye into Egypt and buy for us some meat, that we may live. Judah answered: That man said to us, under swearing of great oaths, that: Ye shall not see my face ne come into my presence, but if ye bring your youngest brother with you. Therefore if thou wilt send him with us, we shall go together and shall buy for us that shall be necessary, and if thou wilt not we shall not go. The man ...
— Bible Stories and Religious Classics • Philip P. Wells

... Aristophanes, or some of his adversaries and emulators might object; but neither they nor [4425]Anytus and Melitus his bitter enemies, that condemned him for teaching Critias to tyrannise, his impiety for swearing by dogs and plain trees, for his juggling sophistry, &c., never so much as upbraided him with impure love, writing or speaking of that subject; and therefore without question, as he concludes, both Socrates and Plato in this are justly to be excused. But suppose they had been a little overseen, ...
— The Anatomy of Melancholy • Democritus Junior

... hope and humbly advise your Royal Highness that, when God shall place you in the sovereignty over this people, you will take care to provide a remedy and reformation herein, and also of that sin of excessive drinking and swearing with which the people are so much infected, and which may cause a fear lest the anger of God should go forth against this nation; but it will be very much in your power to apply a fit remedy to these evils, and doubtless God will require it at your ...
— A Journal of the Swedish Embassy in the Years 1653 and 1654, Vol II. • Bulstrode Whitelocke

... dialogues in which Colonel Carter so freely takes part; for in his development of Carter, at least, Mr. De Forrest is mainly dramatic. Indeed, all the talk in the book is free and natural, and, even without the hard swearing which distinguishes the speech of some, it would be difficult to mistake one speaker for another, as often happens ...
— The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 20, No. 117, July, 1867. • Various

... name is given in the work, down even to the rabble, for which he has not contemporary authority; but what he is particularly proud of are his oaths. Nothing, he tells me, has cost him more trouble than the management of the swearing: and the Romans, you know, are a most profane nation. The great difficulty to be avoided was using the ejaculations of two different ages. The 'sblood' of the sixteenth century must not be confounded with ...
— Vivian Grey • The Earl of Beaconsfield


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