express1
/ɪkˈsprɛs
/ /ɛkˈsprɛs/verb [with object]
1Convey (a thought or feeling) in words or by gestures and conduct: he expressed complete satisfaction...
- I have only 600 words with which to express my thoughts and feelings about Lady Sofia, as I like to call the capital city, and Bulgaria in general.
- Again, I do not have the words to understand nor express the feelings and emotions you have endured since this began.
- I remember being so frustrated at not having the words to express my feeling of loss.
Synonyms
communicate, convey, indicate, show, demonstrate, reveal, intimate, manifest, make manifest, exhibit, evidence, put across/over, get across/over;
articulate, put into words, utter, voice, give voice to, give expression to, enunciate, pronounce, verbalize, word, phrase, render, frame, couch;
state, assert, proclaim, profess, air, make public, give vent to, vent;
say, tell, speak, mouth, point out;
denote, illustrate, symbolize, signify, embody
rare evince, asseverate
1.1 (express oneself) Say what one thinks or means: with a diplomatic smile, she expressed herself more subtly...
- In the end, if you're writing, you're expressing yourself, and you're helping other people to express themselves by your example.
- ‘I like it,’ she says, ‘because it's another way of expressing yourself.’
- You're just expressing yourself as best and as well as you can.
Synonyms
communicate one's thoughts/opinions/views, put thoughts into words, speak one's mind, say one's piece, say what's on one's mind
1.2 Mathematics Represent (a number, relation, or property) by a figure, symbol, or formula: constants can be expressed in terms of the Fourier transform...
- If we can express a square number also as the sum of two other square numbers then Pythagoras' Theorem tells us that we have three sides of a right-angled triangle.
- He stated, without proof, that it would take the sum of at most nine cubes or 19 fourth powers to express any whole number.
- On 4 November 1833 Hamilton read a paper to the Royal Irish Academy expressing complex numbers as algebraic couples, or ordered pairs of real numbers.
2Press out (liquid or air): she must withdraw to express her milk in private...
- It was an old-fashioned mill for grinding linseed, expressing the oil, and making oil-cake.
- I am forced to express a bit of milk and take Nurofen for the pain.
- The bank has designated rooms for mothers to express milk, and offers up to 20 days per year emergency childcare at a nearby nursery.
Synonyms
squeeze out, press out, wring out, force out, extract, expel
3 Genetics Cause (an inherited characteristic or gene) to appear in a phenotype: the genes are expressed in a variety of cell lines...
- Most retroviral env genes are expressed from a spliced, subgenomic transcript.
- The phenotypes of cells expressing alleles that lacked all or most of the amino terminus were indistinguishable from those of rrm3 cells.
- The genes are expressed in a variety of tissues including the intestine, the hypodermis, the head, and the vulva.
Derivatives
expresser
- The worms could be sorted out on the basis of their brightness after one hour of heat exposure, and then the longevity of the high, medium, and low HSP expressers was measured.
- In the low expression lines, staining was confined to the vascular bundles and the collumella, whereas in the high expressers, staining was extended to the placental tissue and the pericarp.
- The photographer eventually became a kind of 20th-century Muir, known like him as the artistic expresser and protector of Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada.
expressible
/ /ɛkˈsprɛsəb(ə)l / adjective ...- Some instinct buried deep, something primal that goes far beyond the boundaries of learning and expressible knowledge, seems to make us respond to such works.
- If the number is not prime, then it must be expressible as a product of smaller whole numbers, and we may continue factoring until it is written as a product of primes.
- This sort of information is easily expressible as a topic map.
Origin
Late Middle English (also in the sense 'press out, obtain by squeezing', used figuratively to mean 'extort'): from Old French expresser, based on Latin ex- 'out' + pressare 'to press'.
In the sense ‘to convey in words or by behaviour’, express originally meant ‘to press out, obtain by squeezing’, and its root is Latin pressare ‘to press’. Express meaning ‘intended for a particular purpose’ is from another Latin word meaning ‘to press’, primere, and is the source of express train and other uses that involve high speed. As early as 1845 an express train went ‘expressly’ or specifically to one particular place, not stopping at intermediate stations. This would have been a relatively fast train, and led to the word being interpreted as meaning ‘fast, rapid’.
Rhymes
express2
/ɪkˈsprɛs/ /ɛkˈsprɛs/adjective
1Operating at high speed, in particular.TNT's express and logistics operations will be at the forefront of the development....
- The tailgate can be operated one of three ways - the express button on the dash, a key in the tailgate or by a button on the key fob.
- Apart from operating cargo and express flights, the company also operates chartered flights.
1.1(Of a train or other form of public transport) making few intermediate stops and reaching its destination quickly: an express train bound for Innsbruck an express bus service an express elevator...
- The group now carries more than 950 million passengers a year worldwide on its bus, train, tram, express coach and airport networks.
- The train consisted of an express car, a combination baggage/passenger car, two coaches, a diner, and three sleeping cars.
- The distinctive blue and yellow 94-seat Megabus vehicles carry almost twice as many passengers as a traditional express coach.
1.2Denoting a service in which letters or packages are delivered by a special service to ensure speed or security: an express letter an express airmail service...
- He had planned to be unloaded with the money and himself concealed in two express delivery boxes, which accomplices would have smuggled out of the airport.
- The cargo operator expects to handle about 160,000 tonnes of express cargo a year.
- Donors were supplied with polling information; we mailed certified letters and express mail packages as well as highly personal appeals from Jim and his family.
adverb
By express train or delivery service: I got my wife to send my gloves express to the hotel...
- By the time we had reached Patchogue, our last stop before running express, our train was packed.
- Running express was very nice, as it kept our train lightly patronized.
- Every month traders make the trek to Capulalpan to purchase mushrooms, which are flown express to Japan, providing much-needed cash to the community.
noun
1 (also express train) A train that stops at few stations and travels quickly: we embarked for the south of France on an overnight express...
- This wasn't the usual daily chaos of ScotRail, this was an Amtrak express leaving Penn Station.
- We made just 3 stops, and than shot down the middle track as an express all the way to Downer's Grove.
- At regular station stops, since no express was working on weekends, plenty of time was available to get off and explore the sights in the small eastern towns.
Synonyms
express train, fast train, direct train
2A special delivery service: the books arrived by express...
- When sending any items of value through the postal system certified methods are available for that purpose, and special express can also be utilised.
- Air express and air cargo services from Indonesia to other countries and vice versa are still dominated by foreign companies.
- Rather than sending a sample through overnight express, he can use web conferencing.
3An express rifle.
verb [with object]
Send by express messenger or delivery: I expressed my clothes to my destination
Origin
Early 18th century (as a verb): extension of express3; (sense 1 of the noun) from express train, so named because it served a particular destination without intermediate stops, reflecting an earlier sense of express 'done or made for a special purpose', later interpreted in the sense ‘rapid’. Senses relating to express delivery date from the institution of this postal service in 1891.
express3
/ɪkˈsprɛs/ /ɛkˈsprɛs/ /ˈɛksprɛs /adjective
1Stated explicitly, not merely implied: it was his express wish that the celebration should continue...
- At Paragraph 17-003 of the book, it is stated that a bare licence may be express or implied.
- That authority may be either actual or apparent, and it may be express, implied, usual or ostensible.
- All that the oral evidence of the witness did was to confirm what was express or implied in her written statement.
Synonyms
explicit, clear, direct, plain, distinct, unambiguous, unequivocal, unmistakable, obvious;
specific, precise, clear-cut, crystal clear, straightforward, certain, categorical, positive, conclusive, pointed;
well defined, exact, manifest, outright, emphatic
1.1Specifically identified to the exclusion of anything else: the schools were founded for the express purpose of teaching deaf children...
- Everyone participating in the project shares the same express purpose - to improve the quality of the software.
- These groups, formed with the express purpose of collecting ‘donations’ for temple festivals, are permanent fixtures in the neighbourhood.
- This is a recently formed coalition set up with the express purpose of opposing the president's re-nomination for a fifth term.
Synonyms
sole, specific, particular, special, especial, singular, exclusive, specified, fixed, purposeful
1.2 archaic (Of a likeness) exact.
Origin
Late Middle English: from Old French expres, from Latin expressus 'distinctly presented', past participle of exprimere 'press out', from ex- 'out' + primere 'press'.