OATH

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does oath mean? 

• OATH (noun)
  The noun OATH has 3 senses:

1. profane or obscene expression usually of surprise or anger

2. a commitment to tell the truth (especially in a court of law); to lie under oath is to become subject to prosecution for perjury

3. a solemn promise, usually invoking a divine witness, regarding your future acts or behavior

  Familiarity information: OATH used as a noun is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• OATH (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Profane or obscene expression usually of surprise or anger

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Synonyms:

curse; curse word; cuss; expletive; oath; swearing; swearword

Context example:

expletives were deleted

Hypernyms ("oath" is a kind of...):

profanity (vulgar or irreverent speech or action)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A commitment to tell the truth (especially in a court of law); to lie under oath is to become subject to prosecution for perjury

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Synonyms:

oath; swearing

Hypernyms ("oath" is a kind of...):

commitment; dedication (a message that makes a pledge)

Sense 3

Meaning:

A solemn promise, usually invoking a divine witness, regarding your future acts or behavior

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Context example:

they took an oath of allegiance

Hypernyms ("oath" is a kind of...):

promise (a verbal commitment by one person to another agreeing to do (or not to do) something in the future)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "oath"):

bayat (an oath of allegiance to an emir)

Instance hyponyms:

Hippocratic oath (an oath taken by physicians to observe medical ethics deriving from Hippocrates)

 Context examples 

Oaths and vile language of any sort had always been repellent to me.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

He held it up with a perfect spout of oaths.

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

I have sworn it by the most solemn oaths which a man can take.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

“I won't do it!” said Uriah, with an oath.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

Matt uttered a great oath and sprang to his side.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

I do; and if an oath is necessary to satisfy you, I swear it.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

There was an instant of silence, broken by a deep oath from Sir Lothian Hume—

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

From that moment, Emma could have taken her oath that Mr. Knightley had had no concern in giving the instrument.

(Emma, by Jane Austen)

I will take my oath he never dropt a syllable of being tired of her, or of wishing to marry Miss Morton, or any thing like it.

(Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen)

Not at all, not at all; there is not an oath or a murmur from beginning to end.

(Persuasion, by Jane Austen)