| 1. | to speak aloud in an oratorical manner; make a formal speech: Brutus declaimed from the steps of the Roman senate building. |
| 2. | to inveigh (usually fol. by against): He declaimed against the high rents in slums. |
| 3. | to speak or write for oratorical effect, as without sincerity or sound argument. |
| 4. | to utter aloud in an oratorical manner: to declaim a speech. |