Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun The act of expressing, conveying, or representing in words, art, music, or movement; a manifestation.
  • noun Something that expresses or communicates.
  • noun Mathematics A symbol or combination of symbols that represents a quantity or a relationship between quantities.
  • noun The manner in which one expresses oneself, especially in speaking, depicting, or performing.
  • noun A particular word or phrase.
  • noun The outward manifestation of a mood or a disposition.
  • noun A facial aspect or a look that conveys a special feeling.
  • noun The act of pressing or squeezing out.
  • noun Genetics The act or process of expressing a gene.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun The act of expressing or forcing out by pressure, as juices and oils from plants.
  • noun The act of expressing, or embodying or representing in speech, writing, or action; utterance; declaration; representation; manifestation: as, an expression of the public will.
  • noun Mode of expressing; manner of giving forth or manifesting thoughts, feelings, sentiments, ideas, etc.
  • noun Used absolutely, expressive utterance; significant manifestation; lucid exposition of thoughts or ideas: as, he lacks expression, or the faculty of expression.
  • noun The outward indication of some interior state, property, or function; especially, appearance as indicative of character, feeling, or emotion; significant look or attitude: as, a mild or a fierce expression (of the eye or of the whole person); a peculiar expression.
  • noun That which is expressed or uttered; an utterance; a saying; a phrase or mode of speech: as, an uncommon expression.
  • noun In rhetoric, the peculiar manner of utterance as affected by the subject and sentiment; elocution; diction.
  • noun In art and music, the method of bringing out or exhibiting the character and meaning of a work in all or any of its details; clear representation of ideas, emotions, etc., in a work of art or a musical performance; effective execution.
  • noun In algebra, any algebraical symbol, or, especially, a combination of symbols, as (x + y) z.
  • noun In obstetrics: Credé's method, compression of the flaccid uterus by the hand externally applied in order to express the placenta after the birth of the child.
  • noun Kristeller's method, pressure and friction of the uterus made by the hand on the abdominal wall, in order to hasten the birth of the child.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun The act of expressing; the act of forcing out by pressure; ; also, of extorting or eliciting.
  • noun The act of declaring or signifying; declaration; utterance.
  • noun Lively or vivid representation of meaning, sentiment, or feeling, etc.; significant and impressive indication, whether by language, appearance, or gesture; that manner or style which gives life and suggestive force to ideas and sentiments
  • noun That which is expressed by a countenance, a posture, a work of art, etc.; look, as indicative of thought or feeling.
  • noun A form of words in which an idea or sentiment is conveyed; a mode of speech; a phrase
  • noun (Math.) The representation of any quantity or relation by appropriate characters or symbols, usually in a specific order.
  • noun (Genetics) the production of products by a gene that cause the appearance of the corresponding protein or phenotype; -- of a gene or of an organism with a specific gene;
  • noun (Computers) a combination of characters linked by operators, occurring as part of the code of a computer program, which must be evaluated according to the rules of the computer language in order to produce a resulting value.
  • noun beyond the power of description.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun A particular way of phrasing an idea.
  • noun A colloquialism or idiom.
  • noun A facial appearance usually associated with an emotion.
  • noun mathematics An arrangement of symbols denoting values, operations performed on them, and grouping symbols.
  • noun biology The process of translating a gene into a protein.
  • noun programming A piece of code in a high-level language that returns a value.
  • noun Of a mother, the process of expressing milk.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun the style of expressing yourself
  • noun a group of symbols that make a mathematical statement
  • noun the communication (in speech or writing) of your beliefs or opinions
  • noun a word or phrase that particular people use in particular situations
  • noun (genetics) the process of expressing a gene
  • noun expression without words
  • noun a group of words that form a constituent of a sentence and are considered as a single unit
  • noun the feelings expressed on a person's face
  • noun the act of forcing something out by squeezing or pressing

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Middle English, from Latin expressiō ("a pressing out").

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Examples

  • In Leibniz's definition (the expression of the many in the one) the two key terms are ˜expression™ and ˜one™.

    Leibniz's Philosophy of Mind Kulstad, Mark 2007

  • His expression was very serious, and for a couple of disconcerting seconds Sophie remembered averydifferent expression… in the throes of his passion, when he had made her rejoice in her womanhood and gasp for joy as his hands touched her everywhere…

    Mistress On Demand Cox, Maggie 2005

  • _He regards her with a rather amused, indulgent, almost paternal expression, in contrast to his big, bluff, physical personality, with his iron-gray hair and his bulldog expression_.

    The Easiest Way Representative Plays by American Dramatists: 1856-1911 Eugene Walter 1907

  • "To throw the dart" was a common expression, signifying to make the first attack; "as the darts were thrown before recourse was had to the sword.] [Footnote 4: _That expression_) -- Ver.

    The Captiva and the Mostellaria Titus Maccius Plautus 1847

  • Expression expression) this. _provider = provider; this. _expression = expression; public IEnumerator GetEnumerator () return this. _provider.

    MSDN Blogs AlexJ 2010

  • As sexual mores loosened in the late 20th century, the title expression would come to be seen as a normal, even healthy way of consolidating affection, and certainly not grounds for censorship.

    Propeller Most Popular Stories scott4261 2010

  • Most often this expression is a response to the culture and events of particular time period.

    Sketching with Words, Writing with Pictures « Write Anything 2010

  • Telling from the response thus far, a 50-word expression is like freedom of movement and this is good, something to consider and perhaps expand-on for those who can share a small piece of the forum to do so.

    Page 2 2009

  • Telling from the response thus far, a 50-word expression is like freedom of movement and this is good, something to consider and perhaps expand-on for those who can share a small piece of the forum to do so.

    Page 2 2009

  • Mostly, I feel like the expression is a badge of insecurity people drag out when they feel the need to signal a winking superiority to their own tastes.

    My First Guilty Pleasure 2009

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