swear by
To invoke in an oath; to swear upon.
ADV
loudly | quietly, silently, softly, under your breath | viciously, violently
VERB + SWEAR
hear sb
I heard him swear loudly when he accidentally dropped his phone on the floor.
PREP
at
The driver swore at the traffic jam and honked his horn repeatedly.
ADV
solemnly
She solemnly swore to tell the truth during the court hearing.
on oath
VERB + SWEAR
be prepared to
She was prepared to swear that she had never seen him before in her life.
make sb
The teacher made all the students swear they would tell the truth during the test.
PREP
by
My grandmother swears by ginger tea whenever she has a cold.
to
She swore to her mother that she would never skip school again.
PHRASES
swear sb to secrecy/silence
The witness was sworn to silence by the judge before giving her testimony.
ADJ
bad, strong
He got in trouble at school for using a bad swear word during class.
mild
QUANT
string
VERB + SWEAR WORD
use
mouth, mutter
She muttered a swear word under her breath when she dropped the coffee cup.
leave out
When telling the story to her parents, she decided to leave out the swear words.