expression

7 definitions • 14 examples

the act of saying what you think or showing how you feel using words or actions:

expression of He wrote her a poem as an expression of his love.

We've received a lot of expressions of support for our campaign.

freedom of expression Freedom of expression is a basic human right.

give expression to It's better to give expression to (= show) your anger, rather than hiding it.

find expression formal His sadness at the death of his wife found expression (= was shown) in his music.

She plays the violin with great expression (= feeling).

the look on someone's face, showing what they feel or think:

I could tell from her expression that something serious had happened.

Mark always has such a miserable expression on his face.

a word or group of words used in a particular situation or by particular people:

He uses a lot of unusual expressions.

"A can of worms" is an expression that means "a difficult situation".

in mathematics, a symbol or group of symbols that represent an amount:

4xy2 is an expression.

a word or group of words having a particular meaning or used in a particular way:

That was an expression he hadn’t heard before, and wondered what it meant.

An expression is also a mathematical statement that includes numbers, symbols, or both.

the act of showing a feeling or idea, or a feeling or idea that is shown:

[ C ] She had such a sad expression on her face that I wondered what was wrong.

[ U ] Freedom of expression is a cherished right in democracies.