express
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /ɪkˈspɹɛs/
ipa: /ɛkˈspɹɛs/
rhymes: -ɛs
Forms: form: expresses
Etymology: From French exprès, from Latin expressus, past participle of exprimere (see Etymology 2, below).
Senses: examples: text: I took the express into town.
text: Your attention please. Train 4715 is now boarding on track 3, section B. This train is an express. This train does not stop at Foo, Bar, or Fubar stations.
text: The train was moving less fast through the summer night. The swift express had changed into something almost a parliamentary, had stopped three times since Norwich, and now, at long last, was approaching Banton.
ref: 1931, Francis Beeding, “1/1”, in Death Walks in Eastrepps:
text: Except for the mid-winter period, when the 11.30 a.m. from Paddington and its opposite number will be withdrawn - Torquay now has seven daily expresses to and from Paddington as compared with five down and six up previously.
ref: 1961 October, “The winter timetables of British Railways: Western Region”, in Trains Illustrated, page 590:
text: This is also a TransPennine Express service which makes a mockery of the word 'express'.
ref: 2023 November 1, Philip Haigh, “TPE must choose the right route to a brighter future”, in RAIL, number 995, page 56:
antonyms: local
stopper
glosses: A mode of transportation, often a train, that travels quickly or directly, either on a regular schedule or as a special or excursion. Express trains often pass through stations along the way without stopping at them.
antonyms: local
stopper
glosses: A mode of transportation, often a train, that travels quickly or directly, either on a regular schedule or as a special or excursion. Express trains often pass through stations along the way without stopping at them.
a public utility vehicle, typically a jeepney, that traverses through an expressway
qualifier: chiefly Metro Manila
glosses: A service that allows mail or money to be sent rapidly from one destination to another.
examples: text: "Give me my express," I said, laying down the Winchester, and he handed it to me cocked.
ref: 1885, H. Rider Haggard, King Solomon's Mines:
glosses: An express rifle.
examples: text: And this [holy communion] being the great myſtery of Chriſtianity, and the onely remanent expreſſe of Chriſts ſacrifice on earth, it is moſt conſonant to the Analogy of the myſtery, that this commemorative ſacrifice be preſented by perſons as ſeparate, and diſtinct in our miniſtery, […]
ref: 1651, Jer[emy] Taylor, “Section V”, in Clerus Domini: or, A Discourse of the Divine Institution, Necessity, Sacrednesse, and Separation of the Office Ministerial. […], London: […] R[ichard] Royston […], published 1655, →OCLC, paragraph 5, page 30:
glosses: A clear image or representation; an expression; a plain declaration.
examples: text: I learned, to my inexpressible terror, that at two o'clock, the day before, an express had been sent to Geraldine by Mr Bergasse, with a letter, which he had received from the Hotel de Romagnecourt.
ref: 1792, Charlotte Smith, Desmond, Broadview, published 2001, page 381:
glosses: A messenger sent on a special errand; a courier.
examples: text: She charged him […] to ask at the express if anything came up from town.
ref: 1873, Edward Everett Hale, Christmas Eve and Christmas Day:
glosses: An express office.
examples: text: popular captations, which some men use in their Speeches, and Expresses
ref: 1648, attributed to Charles I of England, Εἰκὼν Βασιλική [Eikōn Basilikē = Royal Portrait]. The Pourtraicture of His Sacred Maiestie, in His Solitvdes and Svfferings:
text: “5th, If an express requires extraordinary despatch, the man-mountain shall be obliged to carry, in his pocket, the messenger and horse a six days journey, once in every moon, and return the said messenger back (if so required) safe to our imperial presence.
ref: 1726 October 28, [Jonathan Swift], Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World. […] [Gulliver’s Travels], volume I, London: […] Benj[amin] Motte, […], →OCLC, part I (A Voyage to Lilliput):
text: So much was Sir Edward delighted that he sent an express to inform Lord Meersbrook of this great act of friendship, in order that he might be the more easy on their account;...
ref: 1842, [anonymous collaborator of Letitia Elizabeth Landon], chapter LX, in Lady Anne Granard; or, Keeping up Appearances. […], volume III, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, page 132:
glosses: That which is sent by an express messenger or message.
Derived terms: ankle express