swear at

English

Verb

swear at (third-person singular simple present swears at, present participle swearing at, simple past swore at, past participle sworn at)

1. (transitive, dated, colloquial) To be disagreeably incongruous with, especially in colour; to clash.
   • 1885, Truth, volume 18, page 109:

     […] in several instances there was another and quite a different red in the gown, which “swore” at its relative on the parasol.

   • 1978, Fanny Kemble, Eleanor Ransome, The Terrific Kemble: A Victorian Self-Portrait:

     Coal-scuttle poke-bonnets, short and scanty skirts, huge splay feet arrayed in indescribable shoes and boots, colours which swore at each other - these were the outward and visible signs of the British fair of that day.

2. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see swear,‎ at.

   One protester was arrested after swearing at a police officer.

Anagrams

• awarest