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.