swear
/ˈswɛɚ/ verb B1- To take an oath, to promise intensely, solemnly, and/or with legally binding effect. · The knight swore not to return to the palace until he had found the treasure.
- To take an oath that an assertion is true. · The witness swore that the person she had seen running out of the bank was a foot shorter than the accused.
- To promise intensely that something is true; to strongly assert. · I swear I don't know what you're talking about.· My little brother is such a pest, I swear.
- To administer an oath to (a person). · Let the witness be sworn.
- To use offensive, profane, or obscene language.
He/she/it swears · Past swore · Past participle sworn · -ing form swearing
Verb forms
- Base form
- swear
- He/she/it
- swears
- Past
- swore
- Past participle
- sworn
- -ing form
- swearing
An irregular verb: learn its past and past participle by heart.
Phrasal verbs and expressions
- swear by To invoke in an oath; to swear upon.
- swear down To promise that something is (not) true.
- swear in To administer an oath to, as an oath of office or of citi...
- swear off To quit or cease completely, or to promise to quit, as a ...
- swear out To obtain (a warrant or the like) by swearing to facts.
From the library
I on the contrary affirm that I am still blind; for when I lost the use of my eyes, I saw in my house various chattels and valuable goods: but now, though he swears I am cured of my blindness, I am not able to see a single thing in it.”
I swear by my honor as a sailor, by my love for Mercédès, by the life of my father——”
‘My dear Dantès,’ said he, ‘swear to perform what I am going to tell you, for it is a matter of the deepest importance.’
“‘I swear, captain,’ replied I.
Other matches
Learn swear in real texts
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