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Glite Dictionary
lying under oath

lying under oath

14 8.9
Saying something false after promising to tell the truth in court
  • noun
  • Formal
translation icon : perjurio
  • We, as a society, can cut no slack to those who lie under oath in cases that hinge on our need to believe the victim's story.
  • lying under oath and perjury
  • the president lied under oath
  • Clinton lied under oath

Examples

  • It is the lying about it, especially lying under oath.

    Academic text (1999)

  • Nor did he ever plead guilty to lying under oath and obstructing justice, as you claim.

    Blog text (33)

  • Oh, well, yes, some are now saying he lied under oath in court to help a friend.

    Blog text (13)

  • My thoughts exactly: that the general will not lie under oath.

    Blog text (32)

  • I wouldn't lie under oath.

    Guilty as Sin (1993)

  • For one thing, they usually just lie, and lying under oath is perjury, a criminal felony.

    Blog text (21)

  • He later pled guilty to lying under oath and obstructing justice in a court of law.

    Blog text (33)

  • He also ruled that members of Dover's school board lied under oath to hide their religious motivations.

    Blog text (9)

  • Nixon, for spying on the Dems, and Clinton for lying under oath and committing perjury.

    Blog text (29)

  • Bradford was indicted and taken to trial on a charge of lying under oath.

Synonyms

perjury
vslying under oath
  • Formal
123 8.2

Lying on purpose while under oath in court

is the same meaning but used as a formal legal term
bearing false witness
vslying under oath
  • Formal
4 8.8

Saying false things in court on purpose after promising to tell the truth

focuses more on the act as a crime especially in court settings

Antonyms

to tell the truth
814 2.7

Say what really happened without hiding facts or lying

Surface Forms

lying under oath singular
lying under oaths plural

Morphology

lying + under + oath

Each constituent directly contributes to the overall meaning: 'lying' (making false statements) + 'under' (in the state of) + 'oath' (a solemn sworn promise) combine to yield 'making false statements while sworn to tell the truth.' This is a regular compositional pattern found across languages and would be understandable to a B1 learner who knows the individual words.

Etymology

Lying under oath comes from the old practice in court where a person would put a hand on a holy book or raise a hand and promise 'to tell the truth'. To lie while under that promise, breaking the oath, was seen as very serious and was punished, so today lying under oath means making false statements after you have promised 'to tell the truth'.