Library / English Dictionary

DECLARE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

State firmly

Example:

He declared that he was innocent

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Hypernyms (to "declare" is one way to...):

affirm; assert; aver; avow; swan; swear; verify (to declare or affirm solemnly and formally as true)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s that CLAUSE

Derivation:

declarative; declaratory (relating to the use of or having the nature of a declaration)

declarer (someone who claims to speak the truth)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Declare to be

Example:

judge held that the defendant was innocent

Synonyms:

adjudge; declare; hold

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Hypernyms (to "declare" is one way to...):

evaluate; judge; pass judgment (form a critical opinion of)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "declare"):

acknowledge; admit (declare to be true or admit the existence or reality or truth of)

superannuate (declare to be obsolete)

bastardise; bastardize (declare a child to be illegitimate)

certify (declare legally insane)

call (declare in the capacity of an umpire or referee)

beatify (declare (a dead person) to be blessed; the first step of achieving sainthood)

canonise; canonize; saint (declare (a dead person) to be a saint)

judge; label; pronounce (pronounce judgment on)

cancel; strike down (declare null and void; make ineffective)

formalise; formalize (make formal or official)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s something Adjective/Noun
Somebody ----s somebody something

Derivation:

declarative (relating to the use of or having the nature of a declaration)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Announce publicly or officially

Example:

The President declared war

Synonyms:

announce; declare

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Hypernyms (to "declare" is one way to...):

say; state; tell (express in words)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "declare"):

promulgate (put a law into effect by formal declaration)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Sentence example:

They declare that there was a traffic accident

Derivation:

declaration (a formal public statement)

declarative (relating to the use of or having the nature of a declaration)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Proclaim one's support, sympathy, or opinion for or against

Example:

His wife declared at once for moving to the West Coast

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Hypernyms (to "declare" is one way to...):

exclaim; proclaim; promulgate (state or announce)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s

Sense 5

Meaning:

State emphatically and authoritatively

Example:

He declared that he needed more money to carry out the task he was charged with

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Hypernyms (to "declare" is one way to...):

say; state; tell (express in words)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "declare"):

count out (declare the loser)

animadvert; opine; sound off; speak out; speak up (express one's opinion openly and without fear or hesitation)

decree (issue a decree)

attest; bear witness; take the stand; testify (give testimony in a court of law)

depone; depose; swear (make a deposition; declare under oath)

affirm; assert; aver; avow; swan; swear; verify (to declare or affirm solemnly and formally as true)

profess (state freely)

exclaim; proclaim; promulgate (state or announce)

condemn; doom; sentence (pronounce a sentence on (somebody) in a court of law)

take the Fifth; take the Fifth Amendment (refuse to testify by invoking the Fifth Amendment, which states that nobody may be forced to testify as a witness against himself or herself)

promise (promise to undertake or give)

assure; promise (make a promise or commitment)

advise; propose; suggest (make a proposal, declare a plan for something)

account; answer for (furnish a justifying analysis or explanation)

bless; consecrate; hallow; sanctify (render holy by means of religious rites)

condemn (declare or judge unfit for use or habitation)

profess (confess one's faith in, or allegiance to)

plead (enter a plea, as in courts of law)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s that CLAUSE

Derivation:

declaration (a statement that is emphatic and explicit (spoken or written))

declarative; declaratory (relating to the use of or having the nature of a declaration)

Sense 6

Meaning:

Make a declaration (of dutiable goods) to a customs official

Example:

Do you have anything to declare?

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Hypernyms (to "declare" is one way to...):

say; state; tell (express in words)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

declaration (a statement of taxable goods or of dutiable properties)

Sense 7

Meaning:

Designate (a trump suit or no-trump) with the final bid of a hand

Classified under:

Verbs of buying, selling, owning

Hypernyms (to "declare" is one way to...):

play (put (a card or piece) into play during a game, or act strategically as if in a card game)

Domain category:

bridge (any of various card games based on whist for four players)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

declaration ((contract bridge) the highest bid becomes the contract setting the number of tricks that the bidder must make)

declarer (the bridge player in contract bridge who wins the bidding and can declare which suit is to be trumps)

Sense 8

Meaning:

Authorize payments of

Example:

declare dividends

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Hypernyms (to "declare" is one way to...):

authorise; authorize; clear; pass (grant authorization or clearance for)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Credits

 Context examples: 

I'll harrrow up your feelings first by asking if you don't think you are something of a flirt, said Laurie, as Jo nodded to Fred as a sign that peace was declared.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

M. Caffyn, of 33, East Elliot Place—who came immediately after me, declared, after making examination, that the man must have been dead for quite two days.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

Prudence, on the one hand, warned me that I should remain on guard, but exhausted Nature, on the other, declared that I should do nothing of the kind.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

And yet Maud declared that she had never felt better or stronger in her life.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

"An if I get a chance at it, that wolf that's a dog'll be jes' meat," Bill declared.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

The professor declares that he heard the distant cry, but that he knows nothing more.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

I declare she talked to me once like something mad, or like a fiend—no child ever spoke or looked as she did; I was glad to get her away from the house.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

He acknowledges that it is his, and declares that he had lost it.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

As to Mrs. St. Clair’s assertion that she had actually seen her husband at the window, he declared that she must have been either mad or dreaming.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

The promise was readily given, and Willoughby's behaviour during the whole of the evening declared at once his affection and happiness.

(Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen)