declare

Universal Words verb 1 to say sth officially or publicly: [VN] The government has declared a state of emergency. * Germany declared war on France on 1 August 1914. * The government has declared war on (= officially stated its intention to stop) illiteracy. * [Vthat] The court declared that strike action was illegal. * [VN-N] The area has been declared a national park. * [VNtoinf] The painting was declared to be a forgery. * [VN-ADJ] The contract was declared void. * I declare this bridge open. 2 to state sth firmly and clearly: [Vspeech] 'I'll do it!' Tom declared. * [Vthat] He declared that he was in love with her. * [VN] Few people dared to declare their opposition to the regime. * [VN-ADJ] She declared herself extremely hurt by his lack of support. [also VN-N] 3 [VN] to tell the tax authorities how much money you have earned: All income must be declared. 4 [VN] to tell CUSTOMS officers (= at the border of a country) that you are carrying goods on which you should pay tax: Do you have anything to declare? 5 [V] (in cricket) to decide to end your INNINGS (= the period during which your team is BATTING) before all your players have BATTED: England declared at 224 for 4 (= 4 BATSMEN had scored 224 RUNS). PHRASALVERBS declare against sb/sth (BrE, formal) to say publicly that you do not support sb/sth declare for sb/sth (BrE, formal) to say publicly that you support sb/sth