forswear (redirected from forswears)

for·swear also fore·swear  (fôr-swâr, fr-)

v. for·swore (fôr-swôr, fr-swr), for·sworn (fôr-swôrn, fr-swrn), for·swear·ing, for·swears

v.tr.

1.

a. To renounce or repudiate under oath.

b. To renounce seriously.

2. To disavow under oath; deny.

3. To make (oneself) guilty of perjury.

v.intr.

To swear falsely; commit perjury.

---

[Middle English forsweren, from Old English forswerian : for-, wrongly; see for- + swerian, to swear; see swear.]

---

forswear

Verb

[-swearing, -swore, -sworn]

1. to reject or renounce with determination

2. to testify falsely in a court of law [Old English forswearian]

Thesaurus

Verb

1.

forswear - formally reject or disavow a formerly held belief, usually under pressure; "He retracted his earlier statements about his religion"; "She abjured her beliefs" abjure, recant, retract, resile repudiate, disown, renounce - cast off; "She renounced her husband"; "The parents repudiated their son"