The witness's voice was steady and firm as she averred, "That is the man I saw."

Based on the rest of this sentence, what is the best meaning of the word averred in this sentence?

A. Asked

B. Considered

C. Exclaimed

D. Stated

If we imagine ourselves in the scene in which the witness speaks with a firm and confident voice saying "that is the man I saw", the most probable thing is that it convinces us because she is very sure of herself, the witness does not doubt it for a moment, she/he is stating it.

The word averred can be replaced by stated since they have the same meaning. Other synonims can be claim, declare or affirm.