expression
noun/əkˈspɹɛʃ.n̩/ · /ɛkˈspɹɛʃ.n̩/
Etymology Borrowed from Middle French expression, from Late Latin expressiō, expressiōnem (“a pressing out”). Morphologically express + -ion.
11 senses
- 1The action of expressing thoughts, ideas, feelings, etc.
- 2A particular way of phrasing an idea.
- 3A colloquialism or idiom.
- 4A facial appearance usually associated with an emotion.
- 5An arrangement of symbols denoting values, operations…
- 6The process of translating a gene into a protein.
- 7A piece of code in a high-level language that returns a value.
- 8A specific blend of whisky.
- 9The act of pressing or squeezing out.
- 10The tone of voice or sound in music.
- 11Emotional involvement or engagement in a text read aloud…
1
The action of expressing thoughts, ideas, feelings, etc.
- There are lots of great actresses who dress beautifully, but in the modern day, nearly all of them use stylists. They may know what they like—when they’re presented with gowns and outfits, they’re perfectly equipped to say yes or no—but you rarely get the sense that what they’re wearing is a true expression of who they are.2025 October 11, Stephanie Zacharek, “The Astonishing Versatility of Diane Keaton”, in TIME:
2
A particular way of phrasing an idea.
3
A colloquialism or idiom.
- The expression "break a leg!" should not be taken literally.
4
A facial appearance usually associated with an emotion.
- They stared at the newcomer with a puzzled expression.
- The best poker players can tell if the opponents have a good hand by looking at their expression.
3 more examples
- Her expression changed from joy to misery after realising her winning lottery ticket had expired.
- Eustace gaped at him in amazement. When his urbanity dropped away from him, as now, he had an innocence of expression which was almost infantile. It was as if the world had never touched him at all.1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 9, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC:
- At any other time Jessamy would have laughed at the expressions that chased each other over his freckled face: crossness left over from his struggle with the baby; incredulity; distress; and finally delight.1967, Barbara Sleigh, Jessamy, Sevenoaks, Kent: Bloomsbury, published 1993, →ISBN, page 122:
5
Mathematics, Sciences An arrangement of symbols denoting values, operations performed on them, and grouping symbols.
6
Biology, Natural sciences The process of translating a gene into a protein.
7
Computing, Engineering, Mathematics, Natural sciences, Physical sciences, Programming, Sciences A piece of code in a high-level language that returns a value.
8
A specific blend of whisky.
9
Biology, Business, Manufacturing, Natural sciences The act of pressing or squeezing out.
- expression from a gland
- Breast milk expression can be achieved by hand or with a pump.
1 more example
- However the mechanical expression of juice led to an improvement of the solutes extraction from mash.
10
Entertainment, Lifestyle, Music The tone of voice or sound in music.
11
Emotional involvement or engagement in a text read aloud rendered by the voice of the reciter or the reader.
Mostly preceded by with
- The number of children who could read with expression would be very small ; ...1849, Great Britain. Committee on Education, Minutes of the Committee of Council on Education; with appendices. 1847-8-9. England and Wales. Schools of Parochial Unions, etc, page 154:
- I cannot say that all read with expression. Indeed , this power is hardly to be expected in young children . And though “ to read with expression ...1864, Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons, Accounts and Papers of the House of Commons, page 170:
3 more examples
- 1976, Aline D. Wolf, Tutoring is Caring: You Can Help Someone to Read, Parent Child Press Perhaps when you were learning to read , you were asked to stand and " read with expression " for your classmates
- To read with expression, readers must know when to pause appropriately, must know when to change their tone to reflect the emotions of different characters, ...2010, Kimberly A. Henry, How Do I Teach this Kid to Read?: Teaching Literacy Skills to Young Children with Autism, from Phonics to Fluency, Future Horizons, →ISBN, page 72:
- Think of reading words like reading music. When you read with expression, your audience will understand and appreciate your “performance.” Name ...2014, Edward Fry, Timothy Rasinski, High Frequency Word Phrases Level 3--Reading with Expression, Teacher Created Materials, →ISBN, page 43:
- Derived terms
51 terms
agroexpression, bioexpression, coexpression, downexpression, dysexpression, express, expressible, expressional, expressionful, expressionism, expressionist, expressionless, expressionlet, expression of interest, expression stop, expression template, expressive, facial expression, freedom of expression, free expression, gender expression, gene expression, hyperexpression, hypoexpression, immunoexpression, inexpression, infraexpression, microexpression, misexpression, multi-word expression, multiword expression, neoexpression, nonexpression, overexpression, pardon the expression, reexpression, R-expression, RNA expression pattern, RNA expression profile, self-expression, S-expression, s-expression, simplified expression, subexpression, superexpression, surexpression, symbolic expression, synexpression, underexpression, upexpression, viscoexpression- Related terms
- expression pedal
- Hyponyms
- arithmetic expression, el expression, fixed expression, immediately-invoked function expression, lambda expression, linguistic expression, logical expression, regular expression, s-expression