What's the difference between swear and vow?

Swear


Definition:

  • (v. i.) To affirm or utter a solemn declaration, with an appeal to God for the truth of what is affirmed; to make a promise, threat, or resolve on oath; also, to affirm solemnly by some sacred object, or one regarded as sacred, as the Bible, the Koran, etc.
  • (v. i.) To give evidence on oath; as, to swear to the truth of a statement; he swore against the prisoner.
  • (v. i.) To make an appeal to God in an irreverant manner; to use the name of God or sacred things profanely; to call upon God in imprecation; to curse.
  • (v. t.) To utter or affirm with a solemn appeal to God for the truth of the declaration; to make (a promise, threat, or resolve) under oath.
  • (v. t.) To put to an oath; to cause to take an oath; to administer an oath to; -- ofetn followed by in or into; as, to swear witnesses; to swear a jury; to swear in an officer; he was sworn into office.
  • (v. t.) To declare or charge upon oath; as, he swore treason against his friend.
  • (v. t.) To appeal to by an oath.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) It’s no good me swearing on a Bible; I don’t share your faith.” Morrison said: “I will do it, Ray, but I think it’s a very offensive thing for you to ask me to do but I’ll do it if that’s what you require...if you insist I will.” Hadley did not persist with the demand.
  • (2) Perhaps he modified his language for the NY Times reporter, but the more likely explanation is that his swearing added nothing and was therefore omitted by the writer or edited out; in America, even in liberal New York, profanities still need to be argued into print.
  • (3) I swear you don't even like each other and yet you're helping each other out?'"
  • (4) A jury is empanelled, 11 of them swearing on the Bible, one on the Qur’an: six women, six men.
  • (5) When election strategists brought in to pour over Ghani’s speeches told him to swear off coffee on rally days to strengthen his voice, he gave up one of his very few indulgences immediately.
  • (6) A few years back, a survey of 3,000 11-year-olds revealed that nine out of 10 parents swear in front of their children, and the average kid heard six different expletives per week (whoever said profanity was bad for your vocabulary?).
  • (7) Asked if he would "swear it", Huhne replies: "Absolutely.
  • (8) • 1050 East Palm Canyon Drive (+1 760 323 1858, thehorizonhotel.com ); double rooms from $109 The Movie Colony Movie Colony, Palm Springs Concierge John-Michael swears that Jim Morrison made the leap from balcony to pool here in 1969, and that Frank Sinatra was a resident while his nearby home was being renovated – and even though the myth of celebrity tends to get overblown, if not utterly fabricated, in southern California, we found no reason not to take him at his word.
  • (9) Facebook Twitter Pinterest Sixtus ‘Baggio’ Leung and Yau Wai-ching with anti-China banners during their swearing-in ceremony.
  • (10) For a moment he sounds almost camp, but mainly he is solid, talking slowly in a deep voice, sometimes swearing for emphasis, rounding off his sentences "and so on and so forth".
  • (11) The limited swearing, which he does admit, and immediately apologised for, could preclude redemption by reshuffle in the court of parliament, even if it would not be fatal in a court of law.
  • (12) Israel has approved a massive new building programme of Jewish settlement homes in the occupied Palestinian territories , following hard on the heels of the swearing-in of the US president, Donald Trump.
  • (13) 6.37pm GMT Falcons 3 - Seahawks 0, 3:23 1st quarter I swear Ryan is calling out "street meat, street meat" on the line of scrimmage.
  • (14) Scott Morrison has said he was “offended” and “disappointed” that his friend the broadcaster Ray Hadley pressed him to swear an oath on the Bible to prove he was telling the truth about his actions in the Liberal leadership upheaval.
  • (15) "I have to say that if I had been wearing these glasses that day against England," he told the Daily Record in 2005, "then I swear they would only have scored about eight."
  • (16) To really be beloved in France he needs to learn to swear with the virtuosity of a Frenchman who's mislaid his linen Agnes B scarf in the Rue du Bac.
  • (17) Ghana had two players sent home, Sulley Muntari for hitting an official and Kevin-Prince Boateng for allegedly swearing at the coach.
  • (18) The video and audio recordings revealed the swearing in of ’Ndrangheta mobsters to an elite membership known as “Santa”.
  • (19) They swear a lot, but they don’t threaten to file a complaint.
  • (20) But learning how to ski in backcountry takes years, and can involve a lot of swearing and slapstick mishap.

Vow


Definition:

  • (n.) A solemn promise made to God, or to some deity; an act by which one consecrates or devotes himself, absolutely or conditionally, wholly or in part, for a longer or shorter time, to some act, service, or condition; a devotion of one's possessions; as, a baptismal vow; a vow of poverty.
  • (n.) Specifically, a promise of fidelity; a pledge of love or affection; as, the marriage vow.
  • (n.) To give, consecrate, or dedicate to God, or to some deity, by a solemn promise; to devote; to promise solemnly.
  • (n.) To assert solemnly; to asseverate.
  • (v. i.) To make a vow, or solemn promise.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) The strike, which Central Command said destroyed the Isis fighting position, follows Barack Obama's vow in his televised speech on Wednesday to go on the offensive against Isis more broadly in Iraq and, soon, Syria.
  • (2) But Mr Bolloré, with a 29% stake in Aegis, vowed to keep calling shareholder meetings until he gets his way.
  • (3) But Clegg also says he is not going to be cowed into taking Cameron's vow of silence about Farage's assertion that he finds Britain unrecognisable and is uncomfortable at the lack of English spoken on commuter trains out of Charing Cross.
  • (4) Cameron also believes the planned peace talks can lure Assad's acolytes to break with their leader by vowing that if he goes, the existing military and security services will be preserved, saying the aim was "to learn the lessons of Iraq".
  • (5) "We have vowed to never forget and we never will," he said.
  • (6) The Israeli prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu , has vowed the militant Islamist group Hamas, blamed by Israel for the kidnapping, will "pay a heavy price".
  • (7) China to allow pension fund to invest in stock market for first time Read more China’s state-run media has repeatedly vowed that the country’s leaders will not allow such huge losses to continue.
  • (8) The Communication Workers Union (CWU), which represents postal workers, has vowed to fight the sale, which it says will lead to a "worse deal for customers, staff and thousands of small businesses dependent on the Royal Mail".
  • (9) Von Trier, who took a " vow of silence " after being banned from the Cannes film festival in 2011 after joking about Nazism during a press conference for Melancholia, arrived at Nymphomaniac's photocall wearing a T-shirt emblazoned with the phrase "Persona Non Grata"; true to his word, he failed to attend the subsequent press conference where his actors and producer talked about the film.
  • (10) Iran has vowed to retaliate against the ISA extension, passed unanimously on Thursday, saying it violated last year’s agreement with six major powers to curb its nuclear programme in return for lifting of international financial sanctions.
  • (11) Far from being depressed, the audience turned into a heaving mass of furious geeks, who roared their anger and vowed that they would not rest until they had brought down the rotten system The "skeptic movement" (always spelt with "k" by the way, to emphasise their distinctiveness) had come to Singh's aid.
  • (12) Most remarkably: last July, 60 Minutes reported that Al Sharpton "has decided not to criticize the president about anything " – a vow that should be the ultimate disqualifying attribute for working in journalism: how can someone be employed as a political commentator if they vow never to criticize the president under any circumstances?
  • (13) Griffin vowed to lodge a complaint at the "unfair" way the Question Time programme was produced, despite the BNP's claims that his appearance sparked the "biggest single recruitment night in the party's history".
  • (14) More than 120 couples joined the mass on Sunday morning to renew their wedding vows and celebrate more than 1,700 years of marriage between them.
  • (15) Brandis has asked the ACT government not to put the new laws into effect until the court can determine their validity, but the chief minister, Katy Gallagher, has vowed to press ahead.
  • (16) Instead, he vowed: "That means I will be cautious about the promises I make.
  • (17) Before the August rebellion Uganda and Rwanda both had some troops on the eastern Congo border, by agreement with Mr Kabila and theoretically in joint operations with his forces against the tens of thousands of former Rwandan soldiers and interahamwe who have vowed to continue the genocide in Rwanda.
  • (18) Qatar had vowed to reform the industry after the Guardian exposed the desperate plight of many of its migrant workers last year.
  • (19) In his only specific growth measure, he said Britain's planning laws would have to be scrapped so more housing could be built, vowing to scrap "the suffocating bureaucracy" that he said was holding economic growth back.
  • (20) We look forward to many more years of working with Maria.” Sharapova, who has been provisionally banned while the International tennis Federation decides her fate, has thanked her fans for their support and vowed to return to the game.