expression

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ex·pres·sion

(ĭk-sprĕsh′ən)

1. The act of expressing, conveying, or representing in words, art, music, or movement; a manifestation: an expression of rural values.

2. Something that expresses or communicates: Let this plaque serve as an expression of our esteem.

3. Mathematics A symbol or combination of symbols that represents a quantity or a relationship between quantities.

4. The manner in which one expresses oneself, especially in speaking, depicting, or performing.

5. A particular word or phrase: "an old Yankee expression ... 'Stand up and be counted'" (Charles Kuralt).

6. The outward manifestation of a mood or a disposition: My tears are an expression of my grief.

7. A facial aspect or a look that conveys a special feeling: an expression of scorn.

8. The act of pressing or squeezing out.

9. Genetics The act or process of expressing a gene.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

expression

(ɪkˈsprɛʃən)

1. the act or an instance of transforming ideas into words

2. a manifestation of an emotion, feeling, etc, without words: tears are an expression of grief.

3. (Art Terms) communication of emotion through music, painting, etc

4. a look on the face that indicates mood or emotion: a joyful expression.

5. (Linguistics) the choice of words, phrases, syntax, intonation, etc, in communicating

6. a particular phrase used conventionally to express something: a dialect expression.

7. the act or process of forcing or squeezing out a liquid

8. (Mathematics) maths a variable, function, or some combination of constants, variables, or functions

9. (Genetics) genetics the effect of a particular gene on the phenotype

exˈpressional adj

exˈpressionless adj

exˈpressionlessly adv

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

ex•pres•sion

(ɪkˈsprɛʃ ən)

n.

1. the act of expressing or setting forth in words: the free expression of opinions.

2. a particular word, phrase, or form of words: old-fashioned expressions.

3. the manner or form in which a thing is expressed: delicacy of expression.

4. the power of expressing in words: joy beyond expression.

5. outward indication of feeling or character.

6. a facial look or vocal intonation expressing personal feeling.

7. the quality or power of expressing an attitude, emotion, etc.: a face that lacks expression.

8. the act of expressing or representing, as by symbols.

9. a mathematical symbol or combination of symbols representing a value, relation, or the like.

10. the act or product of pressing out.

11.

a. the action of a gene in the production of a protein or a phenotype.

b. expressivity (def. 2).

[1425–75; late Middle English < Latin]

ex•pres′sion•al, adj.

ex•pres′sion•less, adj.

ex•pres′sion•less•ly, adv.

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

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Noun	1.	expression - the feelings expressed on a person's face; "a sad expression"; "a look of triumph"; "an angry face" look, face, facial expression, aspect countenance, visage - the appearance conveyed by a person's face; "a pleasant countenance"; "a stern visage" leer - a suggestive or sneering look or grin sparkle, twinkle, spark, light - merriment expressed by a brightness or gleam or animation of countenance; "he had a sparkle in his eye"; "there's a perpetual twinkle in his eyes"
	2.	expression - expression without words; "tears are an expression of grief"; "the pulse is a reflection of the heart's condition" reflexion, reflection, manifestation lamentation, mourning - the passionate and demonstrative activity of expressing grief demo, demonstration - a visual presentation showing how something works; "the lecture was accompanied by dramatic demonstrations"; "the lecturer shot off a pistol as a demonstration of the startle response" act - a manifestation of insincerity; "he put on quite an act for her benefit" ebullition, effusion, outburst, blowup, gush - an unrestrained expression of emotion
	3.	expression - the communication (in speech or writing) of your beliefs or opinions; "expressions of good will"; "he helped me find verbal expression for my ideas"; "the idea was immediate but the verbalism took hours" verbal expression, verbalism communicating, communication - the activity of communicating; the activity of conveying information; "they could not act without official communication from Moscow" articulation, voice - expressing in coherent verbal form; "the articulation of my feelings"; "I gave voice to my feelings" cold turkey - a blunt expression of views; "I told him cold turkey" felicitation, congratulation - (usually plural) an expression of pleasure at the success or good fortune of another; "I sent them my sincere congratulations on their marriage"
	4.	expression - a word or phrase that particular people use in particular situations; "pardon the expression" locution, saying Beatitude - one of the eight sayings of Jesus at the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount; in Latin each saying begins with `beatus' (blessed); "her favorite Beatitude is `Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth'" logion - a saying of Jesus that is regarded as authentic although it is not recorded in the Gospels calque, calque formation, loan translation - an expression introduced into one language by translating it from another language; "`superman' is a calque for the German `Ubermensch'" advice and consent - a legal expression in the United States Constitution that allows the Senate to constrain the President's powers of appointment and treaty-making ambiguity - an expression whose meaning cannot be determined from its context euphemism - an inoffensive or indirect expression that is substituted for one that is considered offensive or too harsh dysphemism - an offensive or disparaging expression that is substituted for an inoffensive one; "his favorite dysphemism was to ask for axle grease when he wanted butter" shucks - an expression of disappointment or irritation speech communication, spoken communication, spoken language, voice communication, oral communication, speech, language - (language) communication by word of mouth; "his speech was garbled"; "he uttered harsh language"; "he recorded the spoken language of the streets" tongue twister - an expression that is difficult to articulate clearly; "`rubber baby buggy bumper' is a tongue twister" anatomical, anatomical reference - an expression that relates to anatomy southernism - a locution or pronunciation peculiar to the southern United States catchword, motto, shibboleth, slogan - a favorite saying of a sect or political group axiom, maxim - a saying that is widely accepted on its own merits epigram, quip - a witty saying adage, byword, proverb, saw - a condensed but memorable saying embodying some important fact of experience that is taken as true by many people idiomatic expression, phrasal idiom, set phrase, phrase, idiom - an expression whose meanings cannot be inferred from the meanings of the words that make it up agrapha - sayings of Jesus not recorded in the canonical Gospels sumpsimus - a correct expression that takes the place of a popular but incorrect expression; "he preferred his erroneous but pleasing mumpsimus to the correct sumpsimus"
	5.	expression - the style of expressing yourself; "he suggested a better formulation"; "his manner of expression showed how much he cared" formulation sentimentalism - the excessive expression of tender feelings, nostalgia, or sadness in any form expressive style, style - a way of expressing something (in language or art or music etc.) that is characteristic of a particular person or group of people or period; "all the reporters were expected to adopt the style of the newspaper" honorific - an expression of respect; "the Japanese use many honorifics" archaicism, archaism - the use of an archaic expression boilerplate - standard formulations uniformly found in certain types of legal documents or news stories colloquialism - a colloquial expression; characteristic of spoken or written communication that seeks to imitate informal speech idiom, parlance - a manner of speaking that is natural to native speakers of a language Americanism - an expression that is characteristic of English as spoken by Americans Anglicism, Briticism, Britishism - an expression that is used in Great Britain (especially as contrasted with American English) choice of words, phraseology, wording, phrasing, verbiage, diction - the manner in which something is expressed in words; "use concise military verbiage"- G.S.Patton
	6.	expression - a group of symbols that make a mathematical statement formula math, mathematics, maths - a science (or group of related sciences) dealing with the logic of quantity and shape and arrangement sentential function - formal expression containing variables; becomes a sentence when variables are replaced by constants primitive - a mathematical expression from which another expression is derived mathematical statement - a statement of a mathematical relation exponential expression - a mathematical expression consisting of a constant (especially e) raised to some power
	7.	expression - (genetics) the process of expressing a gene genetic science, genetics - the branch of biology that studies heredity and variation in organisms biological process, organic process - a process occurring in living organisms
	8.	expression - a group of words that form a constituent of a sentence and are considered as a single unit; "I concluded from his awkward constructions that he was a foreigner" grammatical construction, construction adjunct - a construction that can be used to extend the meaning of a word or phrase but is not one of the main constituents of a sentence grammatical constituent, constituent - (grammar) a word or phrase or clause forming part of a larger grammatical construction clause - (grammar) an expression including a subject and predicate but not constituting a complete sentence complement - a word or phrase used to complete a grammatical construction involution - a long and intricate and complicated grammatical construction phrase - an expression consisting of one or more words forming a grammatical constituent of a sentence predicator - an expression that predicates
	9.	expression - the act of forcing something out by squeezing or pressing; "the expression of milk from her breast" squeeze, squeezing - the act of gripping and pressing firmly; "he gave her cheek a playful squeeze"

expression

noun

1. statement, declaration, announcement, communication, mention, assertion, utterance, articulation, pronouncement, enunciation, verbalization, asseveration From Cairo came expressions of regret at the attack.

2. indication, demonstration, exhibition, display, showing, show, sign, symbol, representation, token, manifestation, embodiment We attended as an expression of solidarity.

3. look, countenance, face, air, appearance, aspect, mien (literary) He sat there with a sad expression on his face.

4. intonation, style, delivery, phrasing, emphasis, execution, diction She puts a lot of expression into her playing.

5. phrase, saying, word, wording, term, language, speech, remark, maxim, idiom, adage, choice of words, turn of phrase, phraseology, locution, set phrase He uses some remarkably coarse expressions.

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

expression

noun

1. The act or an instance of expressing in words:

articulation, statement, utterance, verbalization, vocalization, voice.

2. Vivid, effective, or persuasive communication in speech or artistic performance:

articulacy, articulateness, eloquence, eloquentness, expressiveness, expressivity, facundity.

3. The act or process of describing in lifelike imagery:

delineation, depiction, description, portrayal, representation.

4. Something that takes the place of words in communicating a thought or feeling:

gesture, indication, sign, token.

5. A sound or combination of sounds that symbolizes and communicates a meaning:

locution, term, word.

6. A word or group of words forming a unit and conveying meaning:

locution, phrase.

7. A disposition of the facial features that conveys meaning, feeling, or mood:

aspect, cast, countenance, face, look, visage.

Translations

تَعْبيرتَعْبِيرتَعْبير عنتَعْبير عن الشُّعورتَعْبير لغوي

vyjádřenívýraz

udtrykvendingfølelsetilkendegivelse

Ausdruck Äußerung Gesicht Miene Redensart

έκφραση ύφος

expresión locución aire aspecto

avaldisavaldumineekspressioonilmesõnastus

ilmaisuilmausilmeilmentymälauseke

expression locution mine terme air

אמירה ביטוי הבעה

izraz

arckifejezéskifejezésszóhasználatszólás

orîtak, orîatiltækisvipur, yfirbragîtilfinning; tjáningtjáning

espressione

表現

표현

verbumvultus

uitdrukkingwijze van sprekengelaatsuitdrukking spreekwijze

ytring uttrykk uttrykksfullhet

wyrażenie zwrot

expressão

выражение выразительность высказывание

výraz

izrazizražanje

uttryckansiktsuttryckmin

การแสดงออก

anlatım çehre deyim ifadeifade biçimi

sự diễn tả

表情表达词句感情

expression

[ɪksˈpreʃən] N (gen, facial) → expresión f; (= feeling) → expresión f; (= token) → señal f (Ling) → frase f, expresión f
she had a puzzled expression on her face → había una expresión de perplejidad en su rostro
as an expression of gratitude → en señal de agradecimiento or gratitud
if you'll pardon the expression → con perdón de la expresión

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

expression

[ɪkˈsprɛʃ^ən] n

[face] → expression f

(= manifestation) → expression f

[goodwill, concern] → témoignage m

(= feeling) → expression f
Try to sing with more expression → Essayez de chanter en mettant plus d'expression.

(= phrase) → expression f
It's an English expression → C'est une expression anglaise. freedom of expression

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

expression

(= expressing: of opinions, friendship, affection, joy) → Äußerung f, → Ausdruck m; as an expression of our gratitude → zum Ausdruck unserer Dankbarkeit; to give expression to something → etw zum Ausdruck bringen; from Cairo came expressions of regret at the attack → Kairo brachte Bedauern über den Angriff zum Ausdruck; popular discontent which found expression in acts of violence → allgemeine Unzufriedenheit, die sich in Gewalttaten äußerte

(= feeling: in music, art etc) → Ausdruck m; you need to put more expression into it → Sie müssen das ausdrucksvoller spielen; to play something with expression → etw ausdrucksvoll spielen

(= phrase etc) → Ausdruck m

(of face) → (Gesichts)ausdruck m; you could tell by his expression that … → man konnte an seinem Gesichtsausdruck erkennen, dass …; a face devoid of expression → ein ausdrucksloses Gesicht

(Math) → Ausdruck m

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

expression

[ɪksˈprɛʃ/ən] n (all senses) → espressione f
set expression → modo di dire

Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

express

(ikˈspres) verb

1. to put into words. He expressed his ideas very clearly.

2. (with oneself etc) to put one's own thoughts into words. You haven't expressed yourself clearly.

3. to show (thoughts, feelings etc) by looks, actions etc. She nodded to express her agreement.

4. to send by fast (postal) delivery. Will you express this letter, please?

adjective

1. travelling, carrying goods etc, especially fast. an express train; express delivery.

2. clearly stated. You have disobeyed my express wishes.

adverb

by express train or fast delivery service. Send your letter express.

noun

1. an express train. the London to Cardiff express.

2. the service provided eg by the post office for carrying goods etc quickly. The parcel was sent by express.

exˈpressly adverb

in clear, definite words. I expressly forbade you to do that.

exˈpression (-ʃən) noun

1. a look on one's face that shows one's feelings. He always has a bored expression on his face.

2. a word or phrase. `Dough' is a slang expression for `money`.

3. (a) showing of thoughts or feelings by words, actions etc. This poem is an expression of his grief.

4. the showing of feeling when eg reciting, reading aloud or playing a musical instrument. Put more expression into your playing!

exˈpressionless adjective

(of a face or voice) showing no feeling. a cold, expressionless tone.

exˈpressive (-siv) adjective

showing meaning or feeling clearly. She has an expressive look on her face.

exˈpressiveness noun

exˈpressively adverb

exˈpressway noun

a divided highway; a motorway.

expression

→ تَعْبِير vyjádření udtryk Äußerung έκφραση expresión ilmaus expression izraz espressione 表現 표현 uitdrukking ytring wyrażenie expressão выражение uttryck การแสดงออก anlatım sự diễn tả 表情

ex·pres·sion

n. expresión, aspecto o apariencia que se registra en la cara; medio de expresar algo.

References in classic literature ?

Noirtier, although almost as immovable as a corpse, looked at the newcomers with a quick and intelligent expression, perceiving at once, by their ceremonious courtesy, that they were come on business of an unexpected and official character.

"This communication," continued the procureur, in that cold and decisive tone which seemed at once to preclude all discussion, "will, we are sure, meet with your approbation." The eye of the invalid still retained that vacancy of expression which prevented his son from obtaining any knowledge of the feelings which were passing in his mind; he listened, nothing more.

View in context

"I suffered no fatigue to recover from," replied the lady, raising her eyes to his with an expression that told the youth he had better talk straight forward at once; "I walk too much to be fatigued with so short an excursion."

"If I have been so fortunate as to please here, then I am rewarded indeed," said the youth, with a bow and an expression that rendered it a little doubtful to which of the ladies the compliment was addressed.

View in context

The previous night, in fact, fertile in melancholy ideas, had sharpened his features, generally so noble in their indifference of expression, and had traced dark lines of anxiety around his eyes.

View in context

"I thought perhaps something had happened," she said with her unchanging stonily severe expression; and, sitting down opposite the prince, she prepared to listen.

View in context

This study in turn should aim first at an understanding of the literature as an expression of the authors' views of life and of their personalities and especially as a portrayal and interpretation of the life of their periods and of all life as they have seen it; it should aim further at an

View in context

"In what way has my behavior been unbecoming?" she said aloud, turning her head swiftly and looking him straight in the face, not with the bright expression that seemed covering something, but with a look of determination, under which she concealed with difficulty the dismay she was feeling.

View in context

She turned toward the wall to smile--for there was in this smile such an expression of triumph that this smile alone would have betrayed her.

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He has a power likewise of realizing and conveying to the consciousness of his reader abstract and elementary impressions, silence, darkness, absolute motionlessness, or, again, the whole complex sentiment of a particular place, the abstract expression of desolation in the long [99] white road, of peacefulness in a particular folding of the hills.

View in context

To my surprise, the face showed the remains of great beauty; the expression, though remarkably firm, was yet winning, tender, and kind.

View in context

Expressions which are in no way composite signify substance, quantity, quality, relation, place, time, position, state, action, or affection.