to swear black is white
Preserved but no longer current.
Meaning · English
To swear to any falsehood no matter how patent it is.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “to swear black is white” mean?
To swear to any falsehood no matter how patent it is.
Is “to swear black is white” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.