EXPRESSION

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does expression mean? 

• EXPRESSION (noun)
  The noun EXPRESSION has 9 senses:

1. the feelings expressed on a person's face

2. expression without words

3. the communication (in speech or writing) of your beliefs or opinions

4. a word or phrase that particular people use in particular situations

5. the style of expressing yourself

6. a group of symbols that make a mathematical statement

7. (genetics) the process of expressing a gene

8. a group of words that form a constituent of a sentence and are considered as a single unit

9. the act of forcing something out by squeezing or pressing

  Familiarity information: EXPRESSION used as a noun is familiar.

 Dictionary entry details 

• EXPRESSION (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

The feelings expressed on a person's face

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Synonyms:

aspect; expression; face; facial expression; look

Context example:

an angry face

Hypernyms ("expression" is a kind of...):

countenance; visage (the appearance conveyed by a person's face)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "expression"):

light; spark; sparkle; twinkle (merriment expressed by a brightness or gleam or animation of countenance)

leer (a suggestive or sneering look or grin)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Expression without words

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Synonyms:

expression; manifestation; reflection; reflexion

Context example:

the pulse is a reflection of the heart's condition

Hypernyms ("expression" is a kind of...):

demo; demonstration (a visual presentation showing how something works)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "expression"):

lamentation; mourning (the passionate and demonstrative activity of expressing grief)

act (a manifestation of insincerity)

blowup; ebullition; effusion; gush; outburst (an unrestrained expression of emotion)

Sense 3

Meaning:

The communication (in speech or writing) of your beliefs or opinions

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Synonyms:

expression; verbal expression; verbalism

Context example:

the idea was immediate but the verbalism took hours

Hypernyms ("expression" is a kind of...):

communicating; communication (the activity of communicating; the activity of conveying information)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "expression"):

articulation; voice (expressing in coherent verbal form)

cold turkey (a blunt expression of views)

congratulation; felicitation ((usually plural) an expression of pleasure at the success or good fortune of another)

Derivation:

express (articulate; either verbally or with a cry, shout, or noise)

Sense 4

Meaning:

A word or phrase that particular people use in particular situations

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Synonyms:

expression; locution; saying

Context example:

pardon the expression

Hypernyms ("expression" is a kind of...):

language; oral communication; speech; speech communication; spoken communication; spoken language; voice communication ((language) communication by word of mouth)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "expression"):

sumpsimus (a correct expression that takes the place of a popular but incorrect expression)

agrapha (sayings of Jesus not recorded in the canonical Gospels)

idiom; idiomatic expression; phrasal idiom; phrase; set phrase (an expression whose meanings cannot be inferred from the meanings of the words that make it up)

adage; byword; proverb; saw (a condensed but memorable saying embodying some important fact of experience that is taken as true by many people)

epigram; quip (a witty saying)

axiom; maxim (a saying that is widely accepted on its own merits)

catchword; motto; shibboleth; slogan (a favorite saying of a sect or political group)

southernism (a locution or pronunciation peculiar to the southern United States)

anatomical; anatomical reference (an expression that relates to anatomy)

tongue twister (an expression that is difficult to articulate clearly)

shucks (an expression of disappointment or irritation)

dysphemism (an offensive or disparaging expression that is substituted for an inoffensive one)

euphemism (an inoffensive or indirect expression that is substituted for one that is considered offensive or too harsh)

ambiguity (an expression whose meaning cannot be determined from its context)

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)

calque; calque formation; loan translation (an expression introduced into one language by translating it from another language)

logion (a saying of Jesus that is regarded as authentic although it is not recorded in the Gospels)

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))

Sense 5

Meaning:

The style of expressing yourself

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Synonyms:

expression; formulation

Context example:

his manner of expression showed how much he cared

Hypernyms ("expression" is a kind of...):

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)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "expression"):

choice of words; diction; phraseology; phrasing; verbiage; wording (the manner in which something is expressed in words)

Anglicism; Briticism; Britishism (an expression that is used in Great Britain (especially as contrasted with American English))

Americanism (an expression that is characteristic of English as spoken by Americans)

idiom; parlance (a manner of speaking that is natural to native speakers of a language)

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)

sentimentalism (the excessive expression of tender feelings, nostalgia, or sadness in any form)

honorific (an expression of respect)

archaicism; archaism (the use of an archaic expression)

Sense 6

Meaning:

A group of symbols that make a mathematical statement

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Synonyms:

expression; formula

Hypernyms ("expression" is a kind of...):

mathematical statement (a statement of a mathematical relation)

Domain category:

math; mathematics; maths (a science (or group of related sciences) dealing with the logic of quantity and shape and arrangement)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "expression"):

primitive (a mathematical expression from which another expression is derived)

exponential expression (a mathematical expression consisting of a constant (especially e) raised to some power)

sentential function (formal expression containing variables; becomes a sentence when variables are replaced by constants)

Sense 7

Meaning:

(genetics) the process of expressing a gene

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural processes

Hypernyms ("expression" is a kind of...):

biological process; organic process (a process occurring in living organisms)

Domain category:

genetic science; genetics (the branch of biology that studies heredity and variation in organisms)

Derivation:

express (manifest the effects of (a gene or genetic trait))

Sense 8

Meaning:

A group of words that form a constituent of a sentence and are considered as a single unit

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Synonyms:

construction; expression; grammatical construction

Context example:

I concluded from his awkward constructions that he was a foreigner

Hypernyms ("expression" is a kind of...):

constituent; grammatical constituent ((grammar) a word or phrase or clause forming part of a larger grammatical construction)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "expression"):

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)

clause ((grammar) an expression including a subject and predicate functioning as a part of a complex 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)

Sense 9

Meaning:

The act of forcing something out by squeezing or pressing

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Context example:

the expression of milk from her breast

Hypernyms ("expression" is a kind of...):

squeeze; squeezing (the act of gripping and pressing firmly)

Derivation:

express (obtain from a substance, as by mechanical action)

 Context examples 

By studying more than 67 billion sequence readouts, the researchers discovered gene expression patterns shared by all 3 species.

(Expanding Our Understanding of Genomics, NIH)

"I've sent for Mother," said Jo, tugging at her rubber boots with a tragic expression.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

One way to tackle this is to block the gene expression pathway, limiting the production of these proteins.

(Nanoparticles used to transport anti-cancer agent to cells, University of Cambridge)

Finally, the investigators found that one bacterial species, Clostridium scindens, controls metabolism of bile acids in the mouse gut — and ultimately CXCL16 expression, NKT cell accumulation, and tumor growth in the liver.

(Study finds gut microbiome can control antitumor immune function in liver, National Institutes of Health)

This was demonstrated by the high expression of genes characteristic of chondrogenesis, such as Type II collagen, SOX-9, and aggrecan.

(Scientists design a new hydrogel that helps regenerate cartilage, University of Granada)

The expression for electrons’ intrinsic source of magnetism is known as ‘spin’.

(‘Magnetic graphene’ switches between insulator and conductor, University of Cambridge)

The eighth house is associated with the physical expression of love too, but again, with Uranus traveling there, be careful.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

What of his joy, the great love in him, ever surging and struggling to express itself, succeeded in finding a new mode of expression.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

He desired to be valued for himself, or for his work, which, after all, was an expression of himself.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

When these regulatory proteins work in harmony, they control the pathway for normal gene expression, resulting in normal skeletal muscle cells.

(New Genes Found Responsible for Regulating Muscle Cells, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)