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declaim

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

English

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Etymology

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From Middle French declamer, from Latin dēclāmō.

Pronunciation

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Verb

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declaim (third-person singular simple present declaims, present participle declaiming, simple past and past participle declaimed)

  1. To object to something vociferously; to rail against in speech.
  2. To recite, e.g., poetry, in a theatrical way; to speak for rhetorical display; to speak pompously, noisily, or theatrically; bemouth; to make an empty speech; to rehearse trite arguments in debate; to rant.
    • 1834–1874, George Bancroft, History of the United States, from the Discovery of the American Continent, volume (please specify |volume=I to X), Boston, Mass.: Little, Brown and Company [et al.], →OCLC:
      Grenville seized the opportunity to declaim on the repeal of the stamp act.
  3. To speak rhetorically; to make a formal speech or oration; specifically, to recite a speech, poem, etc., in public as a rhetorical exercise; to practice public speaking.
    The students declaim twice a week.
  4. (proscribed) To disclaim, disavow.
    • 1835 February 20, “Mr. Adams and the French”, in North River Times:
      He now declaimed having intended any thing disrespectful to the Senate in the expression he had used.
    • 1928 September, “The Cooperation of the Pharmacist and the Wholesale Druggist (advertisement)”, in Druggist's Circular, page 77:
      Unless these conditions are fulfilled we declaim responsibility.
    • 2009, Christopher McKnight Nichols, “The "New" No-Religionists”, in Culture:
      Of course, a small minority has always declaimed any religious affiliation, and some agnostics have been prominent figures in American public life.
    • 2018 July 18, “Ekiti Poll: PDP declaims involvement in votes buying”, in CEOAfrica:

Derived terms

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English terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *kelh₁- (0 c, 70 e)

Translations

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Anagrams

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