expression
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /ɪkˈspɹɛʃ.n̩/
ipa: /ɛkˈspɹɛʃ.n̩/
rhymes: -ɛʃən
Forms: form: expressions
Etymology: Borrowed from Middle French expression, from Late Latin expressiō, expressiōnem (“a pressing out”).
Morphologically express + -ion.
Senses: examples: text: 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.
ref: 2025 October 11, Stephanie Zacharek, “The Astonishing Versatility of Diane Keaton”, in TIME:
glosses: The action of expressing thoughts, ideas, feelings, etc.
glosses: A particular way of phrasing an idea.
examples: text: The expression "break a leg!" should not be taken literally.
glosses: A colloquialism or idiom.
examples: text: They stared at the newcomer with a puzzled expression.
text: The best poker players can tell if the opponents have a good hand by looking at their expression.
text: Her expression changed from joy to misery after realising her winning lottery ticket had expired.
text: 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.
ref: 1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 9, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC:
text: 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.
ref: 1967, Barbara Sleigh, Jessamy, Sevenoaks, Kent: Bloomsbury, published 1993, →ISBN, page 122:
glosses: A facial appearance usually associated with an emotion.
topics: mathematics
sciences
glosses: An arrangement of symbols denoting values, operations performed on them, and grouping symbols.
topics: biology
natural-sciences
glosses: The process of translating a gene into a protein.
topics: computing
engineering
mathematics
natural-sciences
physical-sciences
programming
sciences
glosses: A piece of code in a high-level language that returns a value.
glosses: A specific blend of whisky.
examples: text: expression from a gland
text: Breast milk expression can be achieved by hand or with a pump.
text: However the mechanical expression of juice led to an improvement of the solutes extraction from mash.
topics: biology
business
manufacturing
natural-sciences
glosses: The act of pressing or squeezing out.
topics: entertainment
lifestyle
music
glosses: The tone of voice or sound in music.
examples: text: The number of children who could read with expression would be very small ; ...
ref: 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:
text: 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 ...
ref: 1864, Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons, Accounts and Papers of the House of Commons, page 170:
text: 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
text: 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, ...
ref: 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:
text: Think of reading words like reading music. When you read with expression, your audience will understand and appreciate your “performance.” Name ...
ref: 2014, Edward Fry, Timothy Rasinski, High Frequency Word Phrases Level 3--Reading with Expression, Teacher Created Materials, →ISBN, page 43:
qualifier: mostly preceded by with
glosses: Emotional involvement or engagement in a text read aloud rendered by the voice of the reciter or the reader.
Hyponyms: sense: Hyponyms of expression
word: arithmetic expression
sense: Hyponyms of expression
word: el expression
sense: Hyponyms of expression
word: immediately-invoked function expression
sense: Hyponyms of expression
word: lambda expression
sense: Hyponyms of expression
word: linguistic expression
sense: Hyponyms of expression
word: logical expression
sense: Hyponyms of expression
word: regular expression
sense: Hyponyms of expression
word: s-expression
Derived 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
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