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 ]

a. Of, or relating to, expression; phraseological; also, vividly representing or suggesting an idea or sentiment. Fitzed. Hall. Ruskin. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. an art movement early in the 20th century; the artist's subjective expression of inner experiences was emphasized. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

2. a genre of German painting that tried to show the subjective responses to scenes rather than the scenes themselves. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. an artist who is an adherent of expressionism. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

adj. 1. of or pertaining to expressionism (definition 2); as, expressionist art. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

a. Destitute of expression. [ 1913 Webster ]