Declamation

2 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Declamation \Dec`la*ma"tion\, n. [L. declamatio, from declamare:
     cf. F. d['e]clamation. See {Declaim}.]
     1. The act or art of declaiming; rhetorical delivery;
        haranguing; loud speaking in public; especially, the
        public recitation of speeches as an exercise in schools
        and colleges; as, the practice declamation by students.


        [1913 Webster]
  
              The public listened with little emotion, but with
              much civility, to five acts of monotonous
              declamation.                          --Macaulay.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. A set or harangue; declamatory discourse.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     3. Pretentious rhetorical display, with more sound than
        sense; as, mere declamation.
        [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  declamation
       n 1: vehement oratory
       2: recitation of a speech from memory with studied gestures and
          intonation as an exercise in elocution or rhetoric