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SWEARING
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
I. (noun)
Sense 1
Meaning:
A commitment to tell the truth (especially in a court of law); to lie under oath is to become subject to prosecution for perjury
Synonyms:
oath; swearing
Classified under:
Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents
Hypernyms ("swearing" is a kind of...):
commitment; dedication (a message that makes a pledge)
Derivation:
swear (to declare or affirm solemnly and formally as true)
swear (make a deposition; declare under oath)
Sense 2
Meaning:
Profane or obscene expression usually of surprise or anger
Example:
expletives were deleted
Synonyms:
curse; curse word; cuss; expletive; oath; swearing; swearword
Classified under:
Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents
Hypernyms ("swearing" is a kind of...):
profanity (vulgar or irreverent speech or action)
Derivation:
swear (utter obscenities or profanities)
II. (verb)
Sense 1
-ing form of the verb swear
Context examples:
“I’ll have you know that I do the swearing on this ship. If I need your assistance, I’ll call you in.”
(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)
Later, he remembered that there were other men, many men, who had mastered it; and he breathed a great oath, passionately, under his breath, swearing that his brain could do what theirs had done.
(Martin Eden, by Jack London)
I had no occasion of bribing, flattering, or pimping, to procure the favour of any great man, or of his minion; I wanted no fence against fraud or oppression: here was neither physician to destroy my body, nor lawyer to ruin my fortune; no informer to watch my words and actions, or forge accusations against me for hire: here were no gibers, censurers, backbiters, pickpockets, highwaymen, housebreakers, attorneys, bawds, buffoons, gamesters, politicians, wits, splenetics, tedious talkers, controvertists, ravishers, murderers, robbers, virtuosos; no leaders, or followers, of party and faction; no encouragers to vice, by seducement or examples; no dungeon, axes, gibbets, whipping-posts, or pillories; no cheating shopkeepers or mechanics; no pride, vanity, or affectation; no fops, bullies, drunkards, strolling whores, or poxes; no ranting, lewd, expensive wives; no stupid, proud pedants; no importunate, overbearing, quarrelsome, noisy, roaring, empty, conceited, swearing companions; no scoundrels raised from the dust upon the merit of their vices, or nobility thrown into it on account of their virtues; no lords, fiddlers, judges, or dancing-masters.
(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)
