forswear

<font size="-1" face="arial, helvetica"> <p> <strong> <font color="#000066">Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for June 24, 2021 is:</font> </strong> </p> <p> <strong>forswear</strong> &#149; \for-SWAIR\&nbsp; &#149; <em>verb</em><br /> <p><strong>1 :</strong> to make a liar of (oneself) under or as if under oath</p> <p><strong>2 a :</strong> to reject or <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/renounce">renounce</a> under oath</p> <p><strong>b :</strong> to renounce earnestly</p> <p><strong>3 :</strong> to deny under oath</p> <p><strong>4 :</strong> to swear falsely</p> </p> <p> <strong>Examples:</strong><br /> <p>"The first instance of oath-taking is common in our everyday lives. Most weddings feature a couple <em>forswearing</em> all others, pledging fidelity to each other as long as they live. Witnesses in a courtroom (or Senate and House hearings) place their hands on a Bible and 'swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.'" — <a href="https://www.thepilot.com/opinion/column-swearing-an-oath-today-is-cheap-political-theater/article_ceb7a890-7dd5-11eb-af2f-1f620f57da66.html">William Shaw, <em>The Pilot</em> (Southern Pines, North Carolina), 6 Mar. 2021</a></p> <p>"All jobs, for the most part, within qualifying companies are subsidized. And, other than the limits on executive compensation, there are no restrictions on how companies spend their subsidy payments, including no requirement to <em>forswear</em> layoffs." — <a href="https://www.theglobeandmail.com/business/article-how-ottawa-should-spend-the-next-33-billion-in-cews/">Patrick Brethour, <em>The Globe and Mail</em> (Canada), 14 May 2021</a></p> </p> <p> <strong>Did you know?</strong><br /> <p><em>Forswear</em> (which is also sometimes spelled <em>foreswear</em>) is the modern English equivalent of Old English <em>forswerian</em>. It can suggest denial ("[Thou] would'st forswear thy own hand and seal" — John Arbuthnot, <em>John Bull</em>) or <a href="h