释义 |
expiration /ˌɛkspɪˈreɪʃ(ə)n /noun [mass noun]1North American The ending of the fixed period for which a contract is valid: the expiration of the lease...- Best of all, buyers can sell a contract before expiration and need to take possession of any bottles of wine only if they want to drink them.
- Free agency allows an athlete to market himself or herself for the best possible price to any team upon the expiration of a contract.
- All this comes at a bad time for Big Pharma, which is facing the imminent expiration of patents on many of its blockbusters and fewer-than-expected new drugs in the pipeline.
1.1The end of a period of time: the expiration of three years...- Shares in newly listed search engine fell 2 per cent as investors braced for the expiration of a lockup period that has kept insiders at the web search company from selling stock.
- The expiration of the 800 days within which the Prime Minister promised to considerably improve living standards provoked mixed feelings among politicians.
- The six month sentence will commence on the legal expiration of his 21 year sentence.
2 technical The exhalation of breath from the lungs: at the end of expiration there is still a slight inflation in the lungs...- Ranging from full inspiration to full expiration, lung densities more than double.
- When listening to normal respiration, inspiration composes approximately one-third of the respiratory cycle and expiration the remaining two-thirds.
- It is generally held that during breathing at rest expiration is a mainly ‘passive’ process, although some activity in expiratory muscles may maintain the outflow of air.
OriginLate Middle English (denoting a vapour or exhalation): from Latin exspiratio(n-), from the verb exspirare (see expire). |