▪ I. express, a., adv., and n.1
(ɛkˈsprɛs)
Forms: 4–6 expres, 4–7 expresse, 6– express, 7 compar. expresser.
[ad. Fr. exprès (fem. expresse) = Pr. expres, Sp. espreso, Pg. espresso, It. espresso, ad. L. express-us, pa. pple. of exprimĕre: see express v.1]
A. adj. I. 1. a. Of an image or likeness: Truly depicted, exactly resembling, exact. Now chiefly with reminiscence of Heb. i. 3. Cf. express v.1 5.
| 1513 More Rich. III Wks. 61/2 This is y⊇ fathers own figure..y⊇ playne expresse lykenes of y⊇ noble Duke. 1579 Lyly Euphues (Arb.) 36 Thy byrth doth shewe the expresse and liuely Image of gentle bloud. 1611 Bible Heb. i. 3 The expresse image of his person. 1612 T. Taylor Comm. Titus ii. 7 Shew thy selfe a patterne, and expresse type wherein [etc.]. 1667 Milton P.L. vii. 528 Hee Created thee, in the Image of God Express. 1764 Reid Inquiry i. ii. 69 Language is the express image and picture of human thoughts. 1774 J. Bryant Mythol. II. 431 The Deity is here described sitting..in the express form of the Minotaur. a 1853 Robertson Serm. Ser. iii. x. 125 The universe is the express image and direct counterpart of the souls that dwell in it. |
b. Well framed or modelled. nonce-use.
| 1602 Shakes. Ham. ii. ii. 317 What a piece of worke is a man!..In forme, and mouing, how expresse and admirable! |
II. (Cf. express v.1 6–10).
† 2. Of a fact, condition, etc.: Stated, explicitly recorded. In early use as pa. pple. Obs.
| c 1386 Chaucer Wife's Prol. 719 Lo here expresse of wommen may ye fynde, That woman was the losse of al mankynde. c 1386 ― Wife's T. 313 Ther shull ye seen expresse..That he is gentil that doth gentil dedis. 1686 Goad Celest. Bodies ii. v. 225 There is not above 30 days but are windy, and rainy, or of express heat [cf. ibid. i. xii. 56 We must distinguish of warm Days, Days of Expressed Notation for Warmth or Heat]. |
3. a. Of a meaning, purpose, stipulation, law, etc.: Expressed and not merely implied; definitely formulated; definite, explicit. Of language, statements, indications: Definite, unmistakable in import.
When used of a law, stipulation, grant, etc., the adj. may have either this sense or sense 4, and often appears to have a mixed notion of the two.
| c 1386 Chaucer Wife's Prol. 61 Wher can ye seen..That highe God defended mariage By expresse word? c 1425 Wyntoun Cron. ix. xxvii. 151 Agane þe Lauch expres..chosyn wes Ðis Knychtis son. 1550 Bale Apol. 117 b, Neyther..is ther any expresse doctryne of vowes in all the whole wurke. 1578 T. N. tr. Conq. W. India 75 [He] commaundid that none of his men shoulde goe out..without his expresse licence upon paine of death. 1594 Hooker Eccl. Pol. i. xvi. (1611) 49 We have no expresse purpoce to make that our end. 1605 Bp. Morton (title), Exact Discoverie of Romish Doctrine..collected out of the expresse dogmatical principles of Popish Priests and Doctors. 1616 B. Jonson Epigr. xl, All the gazers on the skies Read not in fair heaven's story Expresser truth..Than they might in her bright eyes. 1659 Hammond On Ps. cxviii. 27 Annot. 594 The insuing verse is express. 1662 Stillingfl. Orig. Sacr. iii. iv. §13 We have the express testimony of Epiphanius. 1767 Blackstone Comm. II. 443 Express contracts are where the terms of the agreement are openly uttered and avowed at the time of the making. 1851 H. Martineau Hist. Peace (1877) III. iv. ix. 22 Mr. Stanley's answer was express and clear. 1888 Bryce Amer. Commw. II. li. 285 Sometimes by express, more often by a tacit understanding. |
† b. Hence of persons or an authority: Distinct in making a statement, outspoken, explicit. Of a state of mind: Fixed, free from vacillation. Obs.
| a 1593 H. Smith Wks. (1867) II. 425 Theodoret..is most express against transubstantiation. 1665 Glanvill Sceps. Sci. 17 Trismegistus is express in the assertion of the same Doctrine. 1667 H. More Div. Dial. i. iii. (1743) 14, I love to feel myself of an express and settled judgment. a 1704 Locke (J.), Where reason or Scripture is express for any opinion, or action, we may receive it as of divine authority. 1704 Lond. Gaz. No. 4037/5 Her Majesty is very express in what She proposes. 1778 N. Laurens in Sparks Corr. Amer. Rev. (1853) II. 117 Our Commissioners..are not so express..as they might have been. |
† c. Of a voice: Distinctly uttered. Obs.
| c 1450 St. Cuthbert (Surtees) 5667 Þe childe foloude and sayde þan, with' a voyce expresse. 1700 Dryden Fables, Ovid's Met. xii. 71 Nor silence is within, nor voice express, But a deaf noise of sounds that never cease. |
d. express malice (Law): malice of which there is actual evidence; opposed to implied malice, that which is inferred merely from the nature of the unlawful act committed. † express witchcraft: ? manifest, open witchcraft.
| 1567 Scot. Poems 16th C. II. 260 O faithles flock!.. Mantenaris of murther, witchcraft expres, Tresoun amang ȝow does daylie incres. 1769 Blackstone Comm. IV. xiv. 199 Malice may be either express, or implied in law. Express malice is..when one, with a sedate..deliberate mind and formed design, doth kill another. 1808 Le Blanc in East Rep. IX. 363 Without proof of malice, either express or implied. |
e. Specifically designated or considered; special.
| 1848 Mill Pol. Econ. iii. xiv. §4 When we treat of that express subject. 1855 Bain Senses & Int. iii. ii. §23 Natural History makes a more express business of the classifying operation. |
4. a. Specially designed or intended for a particular object; done, made, or sent ‘on purpose.’ Of a messenger: Specially dispatched. Also absol. in phrase † in express: ? for a purpose (unless this be an early instance of express n.2).
| a 1400 Cov. Myst. 115 Ffarewel, Gabryel..Goddys masangere expresse. c 1420 Pallad. on Husb. ii. 403 Rapes make wele to smelle In condyment is nowe the tyme ex⁓presse. c 1460 Towneley Myst. 209 Pilatus. I am sakles of this bloode..Both my handes in express weshen shalle be. 1524 Wolsey in St. Papers Hen. VIII (1849) VI. 317, I receyvid new letters from you, sent by an expresse curror. 1619 Visct. Doncaster in Eng. & Germ. (Camden) 137 Send..with all possible speede by an expresse messenger. 1782 Priestley Corrupt. Chr. II. x. 260 Express laws were made to prevent [it]. 1845 Carlyle Cromwell (1871) I. 16 In these two little offhand bits of writing..there is more in⁓sight obtainable, than in any of the express Biographies. 1874 Morley Compromise (1886) 123 The social union is the express creation..of the Deity. |
b. express train. Originally = ‘special train’; but about 1845 applied to a train running ‘expressly’ for the conveyance of passengers to one particular place, and not stopping at the intermediate stations; now, a train running at a high rate of speed, and stopping only at a few important stations. Hence express speed.
| 1841 Saunders Rep. Committee Railw. Q. 2051 It was probable that an express train would come up. 1842 W. F. Cooke Telegr. Railw. 19, I will now follow an Express, and therefore unexpected train in its course from Derby to Leicester. 1845 Bradshaw's Rail. Guide May 14 The accommodation by the Express Trains being limited, Passengers who arrive first will have the preference. 1845 C. B. Vignoles in Life (1889) 269 Went down to Birmingham by the ‘express’ train. 1849 Macaulay Jrnl. 16 Aug., The express train reached Holyhead. 1862 Gifts & Graces xii. 127 We must step into an express train. |
c. express rifle: a rifle constructed to discharge a bullet with a high initial velocity and a low trajectory. express bullet: an expanding bullet for use with an express rifle. express shooting: shooting with an express rifle.
| 1884 Metford in Walsh Mod. Sportsman's Gun II. 12 This being a sort of ‘rough and tumble’ gauge of Express shooting at 100 yards. 1884 Sir H. Halford ibid. II. 14 These rifles [made by Purdey in 1859] must be considered as the first of the class now known as Express—a term believed to have been first used either by the late Lord Henry Bentinck or by Lord Leconfield. 1888 Pall Mall G. 10 July 7/1 It has been proved that ‘express’ bullets are used by the Zulus or their allies. |
d. express delivery: (in the Postal service) immediate delivery by special messenger, on a system introduced in 1891; so express fee, express messenger, express packet, etc. [Here it is difficult to separate the adj. from attrib. uses of the n.]
| 1891 Post Office Guide Oct. 227 There is no Express delivery..on Sunday, Good Friday, or Christmas Day. 1892 Ibid. Apr. 17 On the delivery of an Express Packet, the delivering Messenger may take a reply..The Express fee must be prepaid. Ibid. 18 Letters and Parcels are accepted for conveyance by Express Messenger to the General Post Office. |
e. = high-speed a.; express boiler, a boiler capable of getting steam up with great rapidity; express highway, etc.: see expressway; express lift, a lift which does not stop at every floor. Cf. 4 b.
| 1897 Kipling Day's Work (1898) 217 Express freight's what pays. 1902 Encycl. Brit. XXVI. 285/2 The types, sometimes called ‘Express’ boilers, which are largely used in torpedo-boats,..where the most important requirement is very high power with a very small weight of boiler. 1909 Cent. Dict. Suppl., Express-pump, a high-speed pump; one that makes a high number of strokes per minute. 1909 Westm. Gaz. 9 June 11/4 Six electric passenger lifts, two of which are known as ‘express’ lifts. 1938 E. Bowen Death of Heart i. ix. 160 Matchett is sending Anna's white velvet dress to the express cleaners. 1967 W. Pine Protectors xi. 91 The two men rode up from the basement to the twenty-first floor by express lift. 1971 Daily Tel. 4 Jan. 7/2 Those express lifts (sorry elevators) which serve New York's highest buildings. |
B. adv. [Cf. expressly.]
† 1. Clearly, plainly, unmistakably. With verbs of speaking: In distinct terms, positively. Obs.
| c 1325 E.E. Allit. P. B. 1158 Danyel..devysed sum tyme, As..is proued expresse in his profecies. 14.. Purif. Mary in Tundale's Vis. 130 To the law sche mekely wold obey From poynt to poynte the gospel seyth expresse. c 1450 St. Cuthbert (Surtees) 3389 Þis chapiter it schewes expresse What fandyng he tholed in sekenes. 1556 Lauder Tractate 255 Haue ȝe thare herts, I say expresse, Than all is ȝours that thay possesse. 1712 Berkeley Pass. Obed. §23 Such a contract is an express known part of the fundamental constitution of a nation. |
† 2. a. Followed by against: Directly. b. With respect to dimension or number: Exactly. c. Completely. Obs.
| a. c 1386 Chaucer Doctor's T. 182 Virginius..holdeth expresse aȝeinst þe wille of me My seruaunt. 1578 Gude & Godly Ball 158 The Leuittis..reft thair teind and mekill mair, Expres aganis Goddis command. |
| b. c 1475 Partenay 3004 Fiftene fote long this Geaunt was expresse. 1513 Bradshaw St. Werburge i. 142 Also the yeres of our blessed sauyoure Syxe hundreth foure score and nyne expresse The Brytons were expulsed..From Englande to walles. |
| c. c 1475 Partenay 4357 Hys hauberke dismailled all expresse. 1513 Douglas æneis xiii. ii. 52 To mak end of our harmis and distres! Our panefull labour passit is expres. |
3. a. Specially, on purpose, for a particular end; hence (to go, send, etc.) with speed. In mod. use also, by express messenger or train.
| 1386 Chaucer Doctor's T. 105 This mayde, of which I telle my tale expresse. 1667 Pepys Diary (1879) IV. 368, I sent Mr. C. express thither to see how matters go. 1708 Lond. Gaz. No. 4490/3 M. Osten..came Express..to make his Compliments to his Prussian Majesty. 1760 T. Hutchinson Hist. Coll. Mass. iii. 398 A small vessel had been sent to England express..with a representation of the exposed state of the colony. 1844 Disraeli Coningsby iv. ix, As if the grand furniture and the grand servants had all come down express from town. 1870 Lowell Study Wind. 2 A piece of news worth sending express. |
| Comb. 1870 Emerson Soc. & Solit. xi. 278 No expressrider, no attorney, no magistrate. |
b. Without a stop.
| 1892 Harper's Mag. Feb. 426/1 The managers of certain tall buildings now arrange them [sc. elevators] so that some run ‘express’ to the seventh story. |
C. n.1
1. a. = express messenger: see A. 4. Now Hist. or arch. exc. in sense of an express messenger of the Postal Department.
| 1619 Visct. Doncaster in Eng. & Germ. (Camden) 177, I will spedily advertise his Ma{supt}{supy} by an expresse. 1680 Lond. Gaz. No. 1536/4 An Express is arrived in 14 days from Madrid, but we know not what he brings. 1780 R. R. Livingston in Sparks Corr. Amer. Rev. (1853) III. 2 This hasty letter is written while the express waits. 1816 Keatinge Trav. I. 34 Faster than an express could travel: at least in these regions. 1856 Emerson Eng. Traits, The Times Wks. (Bohn) II. 118 Its expresses outrun the despatches of the government. 1891 Daily News 4 Apr. 6/7 We expect the Post Office to convey the necessary orders—either by post, by telegraph, by telephone, or by ‘express.’ |
b. transf. The message sent by an ‘express’; a dispatch.
| 1642 Milton (title) Observations upon some of his Majestie's [Charles I.] late Answers and Expresses. 1659 Pearson Creed (1839) 282 By an express written to Tiberius, and by him presented to the senate. 1676 Dryden Aurengz. i. i, A new Express all Agra does afright. 1741 Middleton Cicero I. v. 356 Cicero..received two expresses from his Brother Quintus. 1807 Beverley & Kexby Road Act 6 Conveying the mails of letters and expresses under the authority of His Majesty's Post-Master General. 18.. Wellington in Daily News 20 Nov. (1891) 5/1 Blucher picked the fattest man in his army to ride with an express home. 1854 Dickens Hard T. ii. ix, Bitzer had come..with an express from Stone-Lodge. |
c. ? A special errand.
| c 1817 Hogg Tales & Sk. III. 215 Tam's wife had occasion to cross the wild heights on some express. |
2. Short for a. express-train; b. express rifle.
| a. 1848 Dickens Dombey lv, Express comes through at four, Sir. 1867 Trollope He Knew xxiii, [He] went down..by the early express to Exeter. |
| b. 1884 Pall Mall G. 19 Aug. 5/1 A wealthy ‘potter’..blazed away with a double express at the deer compelled to pass him. 1888 Rider Haggard Maiwa's Revenge 127 I, handing him the carbine, took from him my express. |
3. a. Chiefly U.S. An institution (conducted by private enterprise) for the transmission of parcels, etc. Also, goods or other articles conveyed by this method. Cf. express. a. 4 d and pony-express (pony n. 7 b).
The carrying of goods by ‘express,’ first introduced in 1839 (see quot. 1858) has had an enormous development in the United States. In Great Britain the system exists, but the name is little used, though it has been adopted in the distinctive designations of one or two of the ‘forwarding agencies,’ as they are usually called.
| 1794 D. M'Gillivray Jrnl. (1929) 40 No goods are sent him by this express. Ibid., We expect an express from him very soon. Ibid., The Canoe containing the express. 1839 Boston Transcript 21 Mar. 2/2 Harnden's Express, between Boston and New York, has been running since the 4th of March. 1840 Boston Daily Advertiser 7 Feb. 4/3 Mr. Harnden will for the present send his Express via Worcester. |
| 1869 Trans. Ill. Agric. Soc. VII. 522 They can be handled as roughly, almost, as these express agents handle boxes. |
| 1858 Homans Cycl. Comm. 644 s.v. Express, William F. Harnden..started the express business in the spring of 1839. |
| 1839 Boston Transcript 27 Feb. 4/1 Boston and New York Express Car. 1879 F. R. Stockton Rudder Grange vii. 76 My package was wheeled to the express-car. |
| 1882 W. D. Hay Brighter Britain I. ii. 32 Omnibuses..express-carts, waggons. 1922 O. Jespersen Lang. v. 108 Hilary M...called an express-cart a press-cart. |
| 1880 Daily News 20 Nov. 5/4 An express clerk walks through the train, takes the checks of passengers who want their baggage delivered, and gives written receipts for them. |
| 1858 Homans Cycl. Comm. 645 The express companies..transmit nearly all the specie and bullion, etc. |
| 1860 Bartlett Dict. Amer., Express Office, an establishment which rapidly transmits parcels and goods. |
| Ibid., Express Wagon, the wagon in which packages, boxes, etc., are taken to and from an express office. 1862 C. R. Thatcher Dunedin Songster No. 1, 9 There was a little express waggon waiting to convey these Melbourne notables to Dunedin. |
| 1863 Stamped Envelope Inscr., Paid, Wells, Fargo, & Co. Through our California and Atlantic Express. |
| 186.. Postage Stamp Inscr., Pony Express. |
b. The goods carried by an ‘express’.
| 1858 Homans Cycl. Comm. 644 Harnden himself acted in that capacity [as ‘messenger’] carrying his entire express in an ordinary valise. |
Hence exˈpressage, the sending of a parcel by express; the charge or cost of this.
| 1857 C. E. de Long Jrnl. 12 May in Q. Calif. Hist. Soc. (1930) IX. 143 Paid Farley $5 for expressage. 1864 Webster Expressage, the charge for carrying a parcel by express. 1883 Amer. Newspaper Advt., The books will be sent by express C.O.D., the receiver paying expressage or freight. 1888 Harper's Mag. Dec. 161/1 The expressage or postage has not been prepaid. 1936 M. H. Bradley Five Minute Girl x. 197 The expressage will entail some expense. |
▪ II. † express, n.2 Obs.
(ɛkˈsprɛs)
[f. the vb. Cf. late L. expressus (u stem).]
1. The action of expressing or representing by words, signs, or actions; an instance of this. Const. of.
| 1644 Bulwer Chirol. 8 The Hand seems to..vie expresses with the Tongue. 1648 Eikon Bas. 94 With expresses of my desires. 1654 R. Boreman Serm. Ep. Ded., So they might give to the world a Cleare Expresse of their gratitude to your Lordship. 1672 J. Howard All Mistaken i. in Hazl. Dodsley XV. 332 My grief, alas! is far beyond express. a 1716 South Serm. (1744) XI. 156 Allow of no other expresses of our honour to him [God] but distance and amazement. |
b. A condition or product in which something is expressed; a manifestation. (Revived by Kingsley with stress ˈexpress, after ˈimpress.)
| 1644 Jer. Taylor Psalter cxxxvi, Making all Thy creatures to be expresses of Thy power. 1663 J. Spencer Prodigies (1665) 349 It seems to have been the common maxim..that all afflictions were the expresses of displeasure. 1848 Kingsley Saint's Trag. iv. iii. 232 Grace brings no merit When 'tis the express of our own self-will. |
2. A mode of speech, phrase; an utterance.
| 1644 Hunton Vind. Treat. Monarchy v. 42 He compares these serious expresses to Trajans sudden and excessive speech. 1647 Jer. Taylor Lib. Proph. v. 84, I have shewed Scripture in its plain expresses to be an abundant rule of Faith. a 1677 Barrow Serm. Wks. 1687 I. 361 Surely those expresses are used in condescension to signify the..charitable benignity of God. |
b. A specific mention, statement, or injunction.
| 1646 Sir. T. Browne Pseud. Ep. ii. v. §6. 91 This Gentleman..caused a man to goe downe..into the Sea..with expresse to take notice..where it [Coral] groweth. 1660 Fuller Mixt Contempl. (1841) 206 They had no express in scripture that they should be freed from the particular miseries relating to this war. 1687 G. Towerson Baptism 343 Some express to signifie such a thing to be its purpose. a 1711 J. Norris Misc. (1687) 215 They..contradict the general design and particular expresses of the Gospel. |
3. A graphic representation, image; fig. a type, model (of virtues).
| 1513 Douglas æneis xi. vi. 161 This Ene was first, all out, expres Of reuth, compassioun, and of gentilnes. 1646 Sir T. Browne Pseud. Ep. v. xx. 262 They discoursed in silence, and were intuitively understood from the theory of their Expresses. 1646 J Gregory Notes & Observ (1684) 51 Some ancient Coyns have been called by the name of their Expresses, as..(saith Pollux) καὶ ἐκαλεῖτο βοῦς, ὅτι βοὺν εἶχεν ἐµτετυπωµένον, from the figure of an ox imprinted. |
b. A ‘stamp,’ impressed character.
| 1667 Waterhouse Fire Lond. 2 This fatal accident had a more than ordinary express of fury. |
▪ III. express, v.1
(ɛkˈsprɛs)
Also 4–6 expresse.
[ME. expresse, a. OF. espresser, expresser = Pr. espressar, Sp. espresar, Pg. expressar, med.L. expressāre (15th c. in Du Cange), f. L. ex- out + pressāre to press, frequentative of premĕre, to press. Taken as Eng. repr. of L. exprimĕre of which the chief senses were 1. to press out; 2. to form (an image) by pressure, to represent in sculpture or painting 3. to represent or set forth in words or actions.]
I. To press out.
1. a. trans. To press, squeeze, or wring out; to press (juice, air, etc.) from, out of (anything). spec. to press or squeeze out (milk or other secretion) from the breast.
| c 1400 Lanfranc's Cirurg. 127 (MS A.) & þei fulfillen þe wounde..as I have seid, with þe clooþ expressid of þe white of an ey. 1430 Lydg. Chron. Troy i. vi, When men of malice..his venym vtterly expresse. 1569 R. Androse tr. Alexis' Secr. iv. ii. 37 Put them all into an Orenge..and boyle them in hote embers, then expresse it. 1594 Plat Jewell-ho., Chem. Concl. 16 Expresse their oile according to the manner herafter set down. 1638 T. Whitaker Blood of Grape 18 Newly exprest from the grape. 1757 A. Cooper Distiller iii. lii. (1760) 226 Express the Juice and Spirit. 1804 Abernethy Surg. Observ. 94 To puncture the upper tumour, to express the contents. 1880 Daily News 26 Feb. 5/2 The oil or oleomargarine is expressed from the fat. 1932 R. C. Jewesbury Mothercraft iii. 37 Milk can be expressed manually, but this often causes pain. 1953 Carter & Dodds Dict. Midwifery 82/1 The patient should be taught how to express secretion from the nipple so that the milk may be able to flow freely later on. 1955 B. Spock Baby & Child Care 33 If you can learn the knack of expressing a little milk at the same time, it will lure him on. |
b. fig. (a) To extort or elicit by pressure. † (b) To expel, get rid of, by force (obs.).
| (a) 1547 J. Harrison Exhort. Scottes 232 Youre countrey weepinge to you with bloody teares, which your selfes do expresse, and wring out of her, and enforce her to shed. 1609 Holland Amm. Marcell. xxix. iv. 365 The truth was by torture expressed. 1612 Webster White Devil i. i, Perfumes..chaf'd..render Their pleasing scents; and so affliction Expresseth virtue fully. 1818 Hallam Mid. Ages (1872) I. 209 To employ them [Jews] as a spunge to suck their subjects' money, which they might afterwards express. |
| (b) 1565 Golding Ovid's Met. Ep. (1593) 6 Temperance which doth all fowle concupiscence express. 1583 K. James VI in Holinshed Hist. Scotl. (1585) 442 That..the veritie may be tried and all heresie and schisme..expressed. |
2. To emit or exude, as if by pressure.
| 1621 Burton Anat. Mel. i. i. ii. ii. 21 Spirit is a most subtile vapor, which is expressed from the Blood. 1634 Sir T. Herbert Trav. 46 Ormus is an ile. of which..the Silver-shining Sand expresseth Sulphur. 1657 S. Purchas Pol. Flying-Ins. 158 Waxe..expressing in some sort a scent of honie. 1855 Thackeray Newcomes I. 110 Essences into which a thousand flowers have expressed their sweetest breath. 1882 Pall Mall G. 28 June 5/1 Their honey-dew, which the aphides express when caressed by the antennæ of their masters. |
3. To press or squeeze out the contents of. Now rare.
| 1633 Bp. Hall Hard Texts 289 To expresse and make use of that sweet fruit. 1646 Sir T. Browne Pseud. Ep. iv. vii. 197 A bladder blowne is weightier then one empty, and if it containe a quart, expressed and emptied it will abate about halfe a graine. 1725 Bradley Fam. Dict. s.v. Nutmeg, Heat the Nutmegs in a Kettle, and then to express them strongly. 1882 Med. Temp. Jrnl. LI. 141 After the grapes have been expressed. |
† 4. To press hard (in battle). Obs. rare—1.
| c 1489 Caxton Blanchardyn xli. (1890) 152 Seeng herself so sore expressyd, her knyghtes and her men slayne. |
II. To portray, represent.
5. a. To represent by sculpture, drawing, or painting; to portray, delineate, depict. In general sense obs. or arch.; but surviving as a transferred use of sense 8: To render, set forth, convey a notion of (facts, characteristics, details) by plastic or graphic representation.
| 1382 Wyclif Ezek. xxiii. 14 The ymagis of Caldeis expressid..in colours. 1588 Fraunce Lawiers Log. i. i. 2 b, That paynter is most cunning who can most lively expresse his face whose counterfaite he is to drawe. 1611 Coryat Crudities 311 Whereof [Amphitheatre at Verona] I have expressed a picture in this place. 1720 Strype Stow's Surv. (1754) II. vi. ii. 598/2 In every part of this tomb are all the sons and daughters of this King expressed in solid brass. 1762–71 H. Walpole Vertue's Anecd. Paint. (1786) V. 155 Loggan used long strokes in expressing flesh. 1839 Murchison Silur. Syst. i. xx. 265 Quarried down below the ordinary surface of the adjacent ground, as rudely expressed in this woodcut. |
† b. To be an image or likeness of; to resemble [After L. exprimere]. Obs.
| 1483 Caxton Gold. Leg. 45/1 His handes expressyd the lyknes and symylitude of the more brother. 1548 Udall, etc. Erasm. Par. Acts xvii. 64 Man expresseth God..as the childe doeth resemble hys father or mother. 1635 A. Stafford Fem. Glory (1869) 147 Her arms express the Crosse on which Hee dide. 1697 Dryden Virg. Past. i. 32 Kids and Whelps their Sires and Dams express. |
6. To represent symbolically. Said both of the agent and the symbol employed. In Math. to represent by a figure, symbol, or formula. Phrase, to express (a quantity) in terms of (another).
| 1649 Bp. Reynolds Hosea ii. 83 They should the better expres the condition of strangers. 1662 Stillingfl. Orig. Sacr. ii. ii. §6 A Child to express coming into the world, an old man for going out of it. 1684 R. H. Sch. Recreat. 115 The Characters placed on the five Lines, express the Notes themselves. a 1749 Boyse Triumphs Nat. 199 The dim twilight of the arch above Seems to express the queen's disastrous love. 1751 Chambers Cycl. s.v. Fluxion, To express the fluxions of simple variable quantities..you need only put the..letters which express them with a dot over them. 1811 Hutton Course Math. III. 372 The fluxional equa. expressing the relation between x and z. 1816 J. Smith Panorama Sc. & Art I. 38 Instruments have even been described, which express upon paper..the several winds that have blown. 1838 T. Thomson Chem. Org. Bodies 34 If we express the composition of camphoric acid by the formula 5(C2H1½) + O5. 1857 Maurice Ep. St. John xvii. 275 The divine, holy, self-sacrificing life which it [the blood sign] would appear to express. |
7. a. To manifest or reveal by external tokens. Of actions, appearances, etc.: To betoken. Now almost exclusively with reference to feelings or personal qualities, the wider use being arch. or poet.
| 1549 Coverdale Erasm. Par. 1 Pet. 1 He admonisheth them, that..they expresse a life worthie of their profession. 1612 Beaum. & Fl. Cupid's Rev. i. i, If he be A god, he will express it upon thee my child. 1665 Sir T. Herbert Trav. (1677) 276 Such was the singular personal valour Ismael expressed. c 1720 Prior Henry & Emma 429 No longer shall thy bodice aptly lac'd..That air and harmony of shape express. a 1763 Shenstone Elegies xi. 31, I pray'd..To see the trees express their planter's care. 1814 Jane Austen Mansf. Park (1851) 177 Never did tone express indifference plainer. c 1850 Neale Hymns East. Ch. 80 The excellence of beauty In Jesus was expressed. 1859 Tennyson Vivien 220 A robe..that more exprest Than hid her, clung about her lissome limbs. 1877 E. R. Conder Bas. Faith i. 10 Worship..directly expresses sentiment and emotion. |
b. refl.
| 1549 Coverdale Erasm. Par. 1 Pet. II. 10 The inheritance is ready..the possession whereof he hath..entered for your sakes, so that you expresse yourselves worthy of it. 1655–60 Stanley Hist. Philos. (1701) 275/2 They have expressed themselves faithful in the performance of such things as were committed to their Charge. 1858 Hawthorne Fr. & It. Jrnls. I. 262 God expressed himself in the landscape to mankind. 1859 Kingsley Misc. I. 357 The inward beauty seldom fails to express itself in the outward. |
8. a. To represent in language; to put into words, set forth (a meaning, thought, state of things); to give utterance to (an intention, a feeling).
Now the prevailing use; sense 5–7, so far as they survive, are often felt as transferred from this.
| 1386 Chaucer Prioress' T. 24 Lady..Thy vertu and thy grete humylitee, Ther may no tonge expresse. 14.. Epiph. in Tundale's Vis. 108 With hys mowthe who con the myrthe expresse? c 1425 Wyntoun Cron. viii. iv. 236 Til hawe of þame knawlage Expressyd..in oure Langage. 1535 Coverdale Prov. i. 23 Lo, I wil expresse my mynde vnto you. 1633 Earl of Manchester Al Mondo (1636) 190 As griefes concealed, so joyes expressed grow greater. 1672 Villiers (Dk. Buckhm.) Rehearsal i. i. (Arb.) 27 A phrase they have got among them, to express their no-meaning by. a 1684 Earl Roscom. Ess. Verse 42 Harmonious Horace flows With Sweetness not to be exprest in Prose. 1768 Sterne Sent. Journ., The Rose, I could not have expressed it half so well. 1832 A. Fonblanque Eng. under 7 Administ. (1837) II. 257 The Princess expressed her surprise that the people in a famine did not eat buns. 1860 Tyndall Glac. ii. xxviii. 397 My chief difficulty..may be expressed in a very few words. 1885 Law Rep. 29 Chanc. Div. 448 The lease correctly expressed the bargain between the parties. |
b. refl. To put one's thoughts into words; to utter what one thinks; to state one's opinion. † Also intr. for refl.
| 1601 Shakes. Twel. N. ii. i. 16 It charges me in manners, the rather to expresse myselfe. 1609 B. Jonson Silent Wom. iii. ii, What an excellent choice Phrase this Lady expresses in. 1659 Burton's Diary (1828) IV. 325 Every man has not the gift of expressing himself so in short as others. 1711 Addison Spect. No. 5 ¶5 English Writers in their way of thinking and expressing themselves. 1884 A. R. Pennington Wiclif viii. 247 He expresses himself still more strongly in his unprinted writings. |
¶ confused use.
| 1744 E. Heywood Female Spectator (1748) I. 182 The admiration he expresses to have for her. |
c. Of a word, phrase, or statement: To represent (a thought, sentiment, state of facts); to denote, import, signify. Also with sentence as obj.
| 1526 Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 4 b, The ordynary glose vpon the fyrst epystle of Saynt Paule to y⊇ Corinthes doth expresse that..&c. 1588 Shakes. L.L.L. iv. iii. 124 Something..That shall expresse my true-loues fasting paine. 1729 Butler Serm. Wks. 1874 II. 51 No words can express too strongly the caution which should be used. 1870 Jevons Elem. Logic iii. 16 Every assertion or statement expresses the agreement or difference of two things. |
† 9. a. To mention, specify. Obs.
| c 1400 Mandeville (Roxb.) xxiv. 112 Þe messangere of Godd expressed þat nowmer [nyne] so specially. 1447 O. Bokenham Seyntys Introd. (Roxb.) 2 An austyn frere Whos name as now I ne wyl expresse. 1463 Bury Wills (1850) 17 My frendys..as many as ben expressyd be name in this my seid wille. 1611 Bible Num. i. 17 These men, which are expressed by their names. 1640 Yorke Union Hon. 84 M. Milles in his Catalogue never expresseth him. 1668 Culpepper & Cole Barthol. Anat. i. iii. 5 In this Table are expressed the common Coverings of the Belly. 1772–84 Cook Voy. (1790) IV. 1204 The respective crews of both ships, remained as expressed in the two underwritten lists. |
† b. To give an account of, describe. Obs.
| c 1386 Chaucer Can. Yeom. Prol. & T. 752 It werieth me to telle of his falsnesse; And natheles yit wol I it expresse. 1548 Tindale (title) A Briefe declaration of the Sacraments, expressing the fyrst oryginall how they came up. 1573 Abp. Parker Corr. (1852) 425, I thought it not against my profession to express my times, and give some testimony of my fellow-brothers. 1613 Heywood Silver Age iii. Wks. 1874 III. 129 Heardsman, thou hast exprest a monstrous beast. 1697 Dryden Virg. Georg. iii. 12 Pelops' Iv'ry Shoulder..with all the rest Of Grecian Tales, by Poets are exprest. 1798 Malthus Popul. (1878) p. v, The Essay..was suggested as is expressed in the preface. |
† c. To state or describe (an object) as, or to be (so and so). Also with for. Obs.
| 1523 Fitzherb. Surv. xx. 41 Homage, fealte, and ii.s. by the yere..And this he maye expresse the seruyce of the rent. 1579 Fenton Guicciard. (1618) 7 The Pope..was not ashamed..to call them his children, and expressed them to the world for such. 1662 Stillingfl. Orig. Sacr. i. vi. §3 He expresseth Adrastus to be the first King of Sicyon. 1784 Cowper Task ii. 399, I would express him simple, grave, sincere. 1798 Dallas Amer. Law Rep. I. 3 The bills of lading express this rum to be shipped on the risk of C. |
† d. To designate, mention by a certain title.
| 1659 Pearson Creed (1839) 122 So Isaiah, Ezekiel, and Hosea, have expressed him, as we shall hereafter have farther occasion to show. 1677 Hale Contempl. ii. 45 The Wise man chuseth to express him by that Title of Creator. |
† e. intr. To make mention, give an account of. Obs.
| 1430–50 tr. Higden (Rolls) I. 79 Mony prouinces, of whom hit schalle be expressede by ordre. 1509 Hawes Past. Pleas. xi. i, Fame gan to expresse Of jeoperdous way to the toure peryllous. |
10. a. To state or mention explicitly; opposed to imply.
| 1596 Shakes. Merch. V. iv. i. 260 Is it so nominated in the bond? It is not so expresst; But what of that? 1651 Hobbes Leviath. ii. xxii. 121 To other intent, than is in the Writing..expressed. 1724 Watts Logic iii. i, Wheresoever any of these words are used, there is a perfect syllogism expressed or implied. 1732 Berkeley Alciphr. i. §4 Hints and allusions, expressing little, insinuating much. 1817 W. Selwyn Law Nisi Prius (ed. 4) II. 751 The promise must be expressed in the written memorandum or note. |
† b. To draw up (a commission) in express terms; to make out expressly. Obs. rare—1.
| 1462 Paston Lett. No. 453 II. 104 Debenham hathe a comyscion of the Kyng expressed oonly for that schip named in hes comyscion. |
11. Genetics. To display or make manifest in a phenotype (a character or effect attributed to a particular gene); to cause (a gene) to produce its associated character in a phenotype. Chiefly pass. or (occas.) refl.
| 1918 Babcock & Clausen Genetics v. 69 The condition of dominance..is determined by the fact that in the hybrid that character is expressed to the exclusion of its contrasted character. 1927 Genetics XII. 153 In these cultures the radius incompletus character is usually expressed more strongly in those flies which show the character Alae divergentes. 1946 R. R. Gates Human Genetics I. ii. 15 Many cases are now known in which the same abnormality is strictly dominant in some pedigrees and sometimes skips a generation in others... The gene is present in the germplasm, as shown by its transmission to the next generation, but for some reason it has completely failed to express itself. 1965 H. E. Sutton Introd. Human Genetics ix. 109 A dominant gene may be defined as one that is expressed when present in a single copy. 1968 New Scientist 7 Nov. 313/1 As every cell in a multi-cellular organism contains an identical set of genes directing the synthesis of its proteins, the problem of development comes down to a question of controlling the expression of genes (a gene is said to be ‘expressed’ when the protein for which it codes is actually being made in the cell). Thus in a liver cell, different genes are expressed than in, say, a brain cell. 1970 Sci. Jrnl. June 42/3 In parthenogenesis..the lethal gene is dominant and consequently its lethal effect is expressed. |
▪ IV. express, v.2 orig. U.S.
(ɛkˈsprɛs)
[f. express a., adv., and n.1]
trans. To send by express messenger; to send (letters, goods, etc.) by a special delivery or by express (express n.1 3 a); to send by express delivery.
| 1716 Jrnls. Ho. Repr. Mass. I. 81 Isaac Winslow Esq., brought down..several letters that had been expressed to his Honour the Lieut. Governour from the Eastward. 1847 J. S. Robb Streaks of Squatter Life 112 News, now-a-days,..is not news unless expressed, and..the President's message, received in the old fashioned wait-till-you-get-it manner, would not be read with interest. a 1860 Washington Republic Bartlett Dict. Amer. The President's message will be expressed through to Boston, by order of the Postmaster-General. 1880 Daily News 20 Nov. 5/4 There is a saving in going by the horse-cars and ‘expressing’ the luggage at a shilling a trunk. 1892 Stevenson & Osbourne Wrecker x. 161 Did he express his baggage, ma'am? 1898 L. Merrick Actor-Manager xv. 210 Perhaps if the news were ‘expressed’ to the office at once. 1899 Post Office Guide Jan. 18 A Letter may be posted in any Letter Box, from which it will be collected by a Postman and be expressed on reaching the proper office. 1930 Daily Express 6 Nov. 1/1, I telephoned to my mother to express my passport to me at Croydon. 1936 J. G. Cozzens Men & Brethren i. 128 After expressing their luggage, they had come over the mountains from Bologna on foot. |
Hence exˈpressed ppl. a.2, sent by express.
| 1902 A. Bennett Grand Babylon Hotel vi. 72 It was..‘expressed’ luggage despatched in advance. 1909 [see curly a. 3]. |