In criminal law. To make oath to that which the deponent knows to be untrue.This term is wider in its scope than “perjury.” for the latter, as a technical term, includesthe idea of the oath being taken before a competent court or ollicer, and relatingto a material issue, which is not implied by the word “forswear.” Fowle v. Bobbins, 12Mass. 501; Tomliuson v. Brittlebank, 4 Barn. & A. 032; Railway Co. v. McCurdy, 114 Pa.554, 8 Atl. 230, 60 Am. Rep. 303.