Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- v. To make known formally or officially. See Synonyms at announce.
- v. To state emphatically or authoritatively; affirm.
- v. To reveal or make manifest; show.
- v. To make a full statement of (dutiable goods, for example).
- v. Games To designate (a trump suit or no-trump) with the final bid of a hand in bridge.
- v. To make a declaration.
- v. To proclaim one's support, choice, opinion, or resolution.
- idiom. declare war To state formally the intention to carry on armed hostilities against.
- idiom. declare war To state one's intent to suppress or eradicate: declared war on drug dealing in the neighborhood.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- To make clear; clear up; free from obscurity; make plain.
- To make known by words; assert explicitly; manifest or communicate plainly in any way; publish; proclaim; tell.
- To proclaim; announce.
- To assert; affirm: as, he declares the story to be false.
- In law, to solemnly assert a fact before witnesses: as, he declared a paper signed by him to be his last will and testament.
- To make a full statement of, as of goods on which duty is to be paid at the custom-house.
- To make known one's thoughts or opinions; proclaim or avow some opinion, purpose, or resolution in favor or in opposition; make known explicitly some determination; make a declaration; come out: with for or against: as, the prince declared for the allies; victory had not declared for either party; the allied powers declared against France.
- Specifically To express a formal decision; make a decision known by official proclamation or notice.
- In law, to make a declaration or complaint; set forth formally in pleading the cause for relief against the defendant: as, the plaintiff declared on a promissory note.
- In the game of bezique, to lay on the table, face up, any counting-cards or combinations of cards; show cards for the purpose of scoring.
- To decide against continuing a habit or practice; break away from a custom: as, to declare off from smoking.
- In bridge, to make or name the trump suit, or to announce the intention to play without a trump.
Wiktionary
- v. To make clear, explain, interpret.
- v. To make a declaration.
- v. To announce one’s support, choice, opinion, etc.
- v. For the captain of the batting side to announce the innings complete even though all batsmen have not been dismissed.
- v. To announce something formally or officially.
- v. To affirm or state something emphatically.
- v. To inform government customs or taxation officials of goods one is importing or of income, expenses, or other circumstances affecting one's taxes.
- v. To make outstanding debts, e.g. taxes, payable.
- v. To explicitly include (a variable) as part of a list of variables, often providing some information about the data it is expected to contain.
GNU Webster's 1913
- v. To make clear; to free from obscurity.
- v. To make known by language; to communicate or manifest explicitly and plainly in any way; to exhibit; to publish; to proclaim; to announce.
- v. To make declaration of; to assert; to affirm; to set forth; to avow.
- v. To make full statement of, as goods, etc., for the purpose of paying taxes, duties, etc.
- v. To make a declaration, or an open and explicit avowal; to proclaim one's self; -- often with
for oragainst . - v. To state the plaintiff's cause of action at law in a legal form.
WordNet 3.0
- v. state emphatically and authoritatively
- v. designate (a trump suit or no-trump) with the final bid of a hand
- v. announce publicly or officially
- v. authorize payments of
- v. declare to be
- v. state firmly
- v. make a declaration (of dutiable goods) to a customs official
- v. proclaim one's support, sympathy, or opinion for or against
Etymologies
- Middle English declaren, from Old French declarer, from Latin dēclārāre : dē-, intensive pref.; see de- + clārāre, to make clear (from clārus, clear; see kelə-2 in Indo-European roots).
Examples
“Kerry's challenge, Sperling and his three co-authors declare, is to convince voters in swing states such as Arizona, Colorado and the industrial Midwest that they should get hip by becoming more "metro" and less "retro.”
Town Vs. Gown, Arnold Kling | EconLog | Library of Economics and Liberty
“Faith, they declare, is believing something that reason tells you can't be so.”
“I remember watching Begin declare Judea and Samaria part of Isreal.”
“These conservative factions must not be drawn in to a reactive position whereby EVERYTHING they declare is related to sexual ethics, as this gives the wrong impression and distorts the gospel message and undermines the whole movement.”
The Church of England votes to give homosexual clergy hookups full benefits « Anglican Samizdat
“Hayes has declined to run again, which clears the field for new challengers; the first one to declare is Colonel Lou Huddleston, a retired Afghanistan veteran and North Carolina businessman.”
Meet Lou Huddleston (R Cand, NC-08). - Moe_Lane’s blog - RedState
“Did Palin declare this income on her federal and state tax returns?”
“The convicts parents are are upset at their child, but also upset at the punishment given, which they declare is too harsh.”
“And, as a last caveat, with which I will attempt to deter another batch of angry e-mails, I herein declare that I do not believe that because Jesuit astronomers had a better theory of comets than Galileo, the Church was justified in prosecuting him.”
“Wilt not the watchword declare, ere my sword finds its way to thy heart?”
“It's rather hard to argue that drug pushers who have to pay a fine, pay taxes on whatever they are willing to declare from the past, and, although they are then allowed to sell heroin on the streets legally, will still have to get in line to get their drug officially approved by the FDA, just like other pharmaceutical companies, are being let off easily or given 'Amnesty'.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘declare’.
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Talk Talk
Words for Talking
squawk, gab, chatter, chitchat, blab, prattle, blather, discuss, hector, plead, cajole, harangue and 189 more...
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Nigerian English
This list was inspired by this article. Any Nigerians out there care to add to it?
chop house, felicitate, jubilate, cutlass, waterloo, tout, urchin, gripe water, vulcanizer, miscreant, can of worms, sorry-o and 121 more...
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I am : talking
"These are talking words," I announce. "You mean verbs that can be used for dialogue?" you ask. "That's right!" I agree.
say, speak, ask, declare, query, shout, yell, scream, shriek, squeal, squeak, screech and 81 more...
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On speaking terms
Verbs describing speech. We are all tired of He said, She said. Here are some alternative verbs.
stated, declare, state, assert, affirm, air, articulate, deliver, describe, clarify, elucidate, enunciate and 19 more...

bilby Nigerian English - 1. Pay for a round of drinks. 2. Buy a new item. Sep 17, 2008
bilby Cricket jargon - a team declares when they voluntarily end an innings. Such an act is a declaration. Usually a declaration is made because a team considers it has an adequate lead in runs and wishes to save time in the game. Sometimes declarations are made to throw open a game that would otherwise be heading for a draw. Nov 30, 2007