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expire - 7 dictionary results

ex⋅pire

  [ik-spahyuhr] verb, -pired, -pir⋅ing.
Use expire in a Sentence
–verb (used without object)
1. to come to an end; terminate, as a contract, guarantee, or offer.
2. to emit the last breath; die.
3. to breathe out.
4. to die out, as a fire.
–verb (used with object)
5. to breathe out; emit (air) from the lungs.
6. Archaic. to give off, emit, or eject.
Origin:
1375–1425; late ME < L ex(s)pīrāre to breathe out, equiv. to ex- ex- 1 + spīrāre to breathe

Related forms:
ex⋅pir⋅er, noun
ex⋅pir⋅ing⋅ly, adverb
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To expire
ex·pire   (ĭk-spīr')   
v.   ex·pired, ex·pir·ing, ex·pires

v.   intr.
  1. To come to an end; terminate: My membership in the club has expired.
  2. To breathe one's last breath; die: The patient expired early this morning.
  3. To exhale; breathe out.
v.   tr.
  1. To breathe (something) out.
  2. Archaic To give (something) off.

[Middle English expiren, from Old French expirer, from Latin exspīrāre : ex-, ex- + spīrāre, to breathe.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Expire

Ex*pire"\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Expired; p. pr & vb. n. Expiring.] [L. expirare, exspirare, expiratum, exspiratum; ex out + spirare to breathe: cf. F. expirer. See Spirit.]

1. To breathe out; to emit from the lungs; to throw out from the mouth or nostrils in the process of respiration; -- opposed to inspire.

Anatomy exhibits the lungs in a continual motion of inspiring and expiring air. --Harvey.

This chafed the boar; his nostrils flames expire. --Dryden.

2. To give forth insensibly or gently, as a fluid or vapor; to emit in minute particles; to exhale; as, the earth expires a damp vapor; plants expire odors.

The expiring of cold out of the inward parts of the earth in winter. --Bacon.

3. To emit; to give out. [Obs.] --Dryden.

4. To bring to a close; to terminate. [Obs.]

Expire the term Of a despised life. --Shak.

Expire

Ex*pire"\, v. i. 1. To emit the breath.

2. To emit the last breath; to breathe out the life; to die; as, to expire calmly; to expire in agony.

3. To come to an end; to cease; to terminate; to perish; to become extinct; as, the flame expired; his lease expires to-day; the month expired on Saturday.

4. To burst forth; to fly out with a blast. [Obs.] "The ponderous ball expires." --Dryden.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Language Translation for : expire
Spanish: terminar,
German: ablaufen,
Japanese: 終る
More Translations »

expire 
1419, from M.Fr. expirer, from L. expirare "breathe out, breathe one's last, die," from ex- "out" + spirare "to breathe" (see spirit). "Die" is the older sense in Eng.; that of "breathe out" is first attested 1590. Of laws, patents, treaties, etc., c.1477.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Main Entry: ex·pire
Pronunciation: ik-'spI(&)r, oftenest for vi 2 and vt ek-
Function: verb
Inflected Forms: ex·pired;ex·pir·ing
intransitive senses
1 : to breathe one's last breath : DIE
2 : to emit the breath expire transitive senses
: to breathe out from or as if from the lungs expired by the lungs —J. D. Ratcliff>
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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expire ex·pire (ĭk-spīr')
v. ex·pired, ex·pir·ing, ex·pires

  1. To breathe one's last breath; die.
  2. To exhale.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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