Word.ws English Dictionary

swearing the peace

swearing the peace is the present participle and gerund of swear the peace.

Meaning of swear the peace

Verb

swear the peace (third-person singular simple present swears the peace, present participle swearing the peace, simple past swore the peace, past participle sworn the peace)

  1. (historical) To swear legally (against someone) that one is in fear of physical violence from a person, in order that they be put under bond to keep the peace.
    • He […] told me he deſpiſed my threats; I had no reſource; I could not ſwear the peace againſt him!—I was not afraid of my life!—he had never ſtruck me!1798, Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin, “[Maria: or, The] Wrongs of Woman”, in W[illiam] Godwin, editor, Posthumous Works of the Author of A Vindication of the Rights of Woman. […], volume II, London: […]...

Questions about swearing the peace

What is swearing the peace the present participle and gerund of?
Swearing the peace is the present participle and gerund of swear the peace.

Words near swearing the peace in the dictionary

  1. swearing like a trooper
  2. swearing off
  3. swearing on
  4. swearing on a stack
  5. swearing on a stack of Bibles
  6. swearing the peace
  7. swearing to God
  8. swearing upon
  9. swearing-in
  10. Swearingen
  11. Swearingens

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: swearing the peace (page history and authors); swear the peace (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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