Expression

Ex*pres"sion

(ks*prsh"n), n. [L. expressio: cf. F. expression.] 1. The act of expressing; the act of forcing out by pressure; as, the expression of juices or oils; also, of extorting or eliciting; as, a forcible expression of truth.
[1913 Webster]

2. The act of declaring or signifying; declaration; utterance; as, an expression of the public will.
[1913 Webster]

With this tone of philosophy were mingled expressions of sympathy.
Prescott.
[1913 Webster]

3. Lively or vivid representation of meaning, sentiment, or feeling, etc.; significant and impressive indication, whether by language, appearance, or gesture; that manner or style which gives life and suggestive force to ideas and sentiments; as, he reads with expression; her performance on the piano has expression.
[1913 Webster]

The imitators of Shakespeare, fixing their attention on his wonderful power of expression, have directed their imitation to this.
M. Arnold.
[1913 Webster]

4. That which is expressed by a countenance, a posture, a work of art, etc.; look, as indicative of thought or feeling. "The expression of an eye." Tennyson.
[1913 Webster]

It still wore the majesty of expression so conspicuous in his portraits by the inimitable pencil of Titian.
Prescott.
[1913 Webster]

5. A form of words in which an idea or sentiment is conveyed; a mode of speech; a phrase; as, a common expression; an odd expression.
[1913 Webster]

6. (Math.) The representation of any quantity or relation by appropriate characters or symbols, usually in a specific order.
[1913 Webster +PJC]

7. (Genetics) the production of products by a gene that cause the appearance of the corresponding protein or phenotype; -- of a gene or of an organism with a specific gene; as, the expression the beta-galactosidase positive phenotype,
[PJC]

8. (Computers) a combination of characters linked by operators, occurring as part of the code of a computer program, which must be evaluated according to the rules of the computer language in order to produce a resulting value.
[PJC]

In most programming languages, (a + b) is an expression indicating simple arithmetic addition, if the variables a and b are real numbers. Many other types of operation may be used in programs, and each set of symbols indicating an operation is an expression in that program.
[PJC]

Past expression, Beyond expression, beyond the power of description. "Beyond expression bright." Milton.
[1913 Webster]

 

New - Add Dictionary Search to Your Site

You can add a free dictionary search box to your own web site by copying and pasting the following HTML into one of your web pages: 

<form action="http://www.freedict.co.uk/search.php" method="post">
 <p style="text-align: center; font-family: sans-serif;">
  <a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.freedict.co.uk/"
     title="FreeDict free online dictionary">FreeDict</a>
  <input type="text" name="word" size="20" value="" />
  <input type="submit" name="submit" value="Search Dictionary" />
 </p>
</form>

 

a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z

Thu 18th April 2019