express

Meanings

1. 1
   verb

   To show or make known your thoughts or feelings in words or actions.

   She found it hard to express her gratitude in words.

2. 2
   adj

   Designed to travel or be delivered very quickly, with few or no stops.

   We caught the express train to the city center.

3. 3
   noun

   A fast train or bus that makes only a few stops.

   They caught the express to the big city.

Appears in

Simplified etymology

Express in the sense “convey in words or behavior” entered English in the late Middle Ages and originally meant “press out” or “obtain by squeezing,” from Latin pressare “press.” The distinct sense “intended for a particular purpose” comes from Latin primere “press”; its application to trains that went directly to a specified destination led express to acquire the sense “fast or rapid.”

From French exprès, from Latin expressus, past participle of exprimere (see Etymology 2, below).

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External links

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• Cambridge Dictionary
• Wiktionary