From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [wn]:
exclamation
n 1: an abrupt excited utterance; "she gave an exclamation of
delight"; "there was much exclaiming over it" [syn:
exclamation, exclaiming]
2: a loud complaint or protest or reproach
3: an exclamatory rhetorical device; "O tempore! O mores" [syn:
ecphonesis, exclamation]
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Exclamation \Ex`cla*ma"tion\, n. [L. exclamatio: cf. F.
exclamation.]
1. A loud calling or crying out; outcry; loud or emphatic
utterance; vehement vociferation; clamor; that which is
cried out, as an expression of feeling; sudden expression
of sound or words indicative of emotion, as in surprise,
pain, grief, joy, anger, etc.
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Exclamations against abuses in the church. --Hooker.
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Thus will I drown your exclamations. --Shak.
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A festive exclamation not unsuited to the occasion.
--Trench.
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2. (Rhet.) A word expressing outcry; an interjection; a word
expressing passion, as wonder, fear, or grief.
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3. (Print.) A mark or sign by which outcry or emphatic
utterance is marked; thus [!]; -- called also {exclamation
point}.
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