# express

Pronunciation: say "ik-SPRES" /ɪkˈspɹɛs/

## Verb

1. To make thoughts, feelings, or ideas known through words, actions, or signs.
   - Simple: To say or show what you think or feel.
   - _The poem expresses deep grief over a lost friend._
   - _Volunteers express their support by signing the open letter._
4. To represent a number, quantity, or relationship in a given form or unit.
   - Simple: To write or show a number or amount in a certain way or unit.
   - _The students learned to express each ratio as a percentage._
   - _Throughout the report, all prices are expressed in US dollars._
8. To send an item or package using a rapid delivery service.
   - Simple: To send something by a fast mail or delivery service.
   - _If you need the signed contract by Friday, we can express it overnight._
   - _The lab expressed the blood samples to a testing center across the country._
6. Of a cell or organism, to make the RNA or protein that a gene codes for, so that the gene has an effect.
   - Simple: In biology, when a cell uses a gene to make the thing it codes for.
   - _Liver cells express enzymes that other tissues hardly make at all._
   - _Liver cells and skin cells carry the same genes, but each kind of cell expresses a very different set of them._
10. To press or squeeze something so that liquid, especially milk, comes out.
   - Simple: To squeeze a liquid out of something by pressing, such as milk.
   - _Nurses showed her how to express milk by hand._
   - _The old mill used heavy stone wheels to express oil from the crushed olives._

## Adjective

2. Stated in clear and direct terms; explicitly set out rather than merely implied.
   - Simple: Clearly and directly stated, not just hinted at.
   - _The contract included an express warranty covering all parts._
   - _He acted against the express wishes of his parents._
3. Describing a train or other service that runs fast and skips the local stops, as in an express train or an express bus.
   - Simple: Fast, and not stopping at every place along the way.
   - _An express service carries commuters past every minor stop._
   - _She caught the express line to the airport with minutes to spare._
9. Offering a more limited but faster service than a full dealer or store of the same kind.
   - Simple: Offering faster but more limited service than a full store of the same type.
   - _The chain opened an express outlet offering only its bestselling coffees._
   - _An express branch handles quick repairs but takes no custom orders._
17. Truly and exactly representing something; closely resembling the original. *(literary)*
   - Simple: Looking exactly like something and being a true copy of it.
   - _The statue stood as the express image of the fallen hero._
   - _The statue in the square was said to be the express image of the town's founder, down to the crooked nose._

## Noun

7. A fast or direct mode of travel, usually a train, that passes through many stations without stopping.
   - Simple: A fast or direct train or other vehicle that skips many stops along its route.
   - _The morning express reached the city in half the usual time._
   - _Commuters packed the express heading north out of the capital._
5. A service or company whose business is carrying mail or money quickly from one place to another.
   - Simple: A service that sends mail or money very fast from one place to another.
   - _The bank sent the signed bonds by express the same afternoon._
   - _He shipped the parcel via express to beat the holiday rush._
12. A person sent in haste on a special errand to deliver something; the courier, not what the courier carries. *(historical)*
   - Simple: A person sent quickly to carry a message or package.
   - _A mounted express galloped through the night to warn the town._
   - _The king dispatched an express to the border garrison._
13. A local office of a company that handles the rapid shipment of goods, parcels, and money. *(historical)*
   - Simple: A place where a delivery company takes in and hands out fast shipments.
   - _He collected the gold shipment from the express before noon._
   - _When the stagecoach came in, half the town squeezed into the express to see whether any letters or money had arrived from the East._
14. A dispatch, message, or parcel carried by a special messenger for fast delivery.
   - Simple: A message or package sent quickly by a special messenger.
   - _The general unfolded the express and read its contents to the council._
   - _An express arrived from the fort at midnight, and the colonel opened it at once to learn whether the town still held out._

## Adverb

11. In a fast or direct manner, as a train that skips local stops, or by a rapid delivery service.
   - Simple: In a fast, direct way, without stopping at every place, or by a fast delivery service.
   - _The bus travels express during the morning rush._
   - _They sent the medicine express to the remote clinic._

## Noun

15. The act of conveying an idea through words or actions; communication or expression. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: The act of sharing an idea through words or actions.
16. A specific statement or instruction given to someone. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: A clear, exact order or statement given to someone.
18. A clear image or representation of something; an expression or plain declaration. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: A clear picture or plain statement of something.

## Other meanings

- (noun) A public utility vehicle, usually a jeepney, that travels along an expressway, chiefly in Metro Manila.
- (noun) A hunting rifle designed to fire bullets at high speed, now usually a large-bore rifle used for big-game hunting.

## Origin

**Meanings 2–3, 5, 7, 9, 11–14, 17–18** — Latin exprimere had the past participle expressus, which gave French exprès, the source of this word.
**Meanings 1, 4, 6, 8, 10, 15–16** — Latin exprimere had a frequentative form that gave Old French espresser or expresser, and English took the word from there.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/express (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).