swear the peace
English
[edit]Alternative forms
[edit]- pray the peace (obsolete)
Verb
[edit]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)
- (now 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. [from 17th c.]
- 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: […] J[oseph] Johnson, […]; and G[eorge,] G[eorge] and J[ohn] Robinson, […], →OCLC, chapter XI, page 57:
- 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!