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American Dictionary of the English Language

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Expire


EXPI'RE, verb transitive [Latin expiro, for exspiro; ex and spiro, to breathe.]

1. To breathe out; to throw out the breath from the lungs; opposed to inspire. We expire air at every breath.

2. To exhale; to emit in minute particles, as a fluid or volatile matter. The earth expires a damp or warm vapor; the body expires fluid matter from the pores; plants expire odors.

3. To conclude.

EXPI'RE, verb intransitive To emit the last breath, as an animal; to die; to breathe the last.

1. To perish; to end; to fail or be destroyed; to come to nothing; to be frustrated.

With the loss of battle all his hopes of empire expired.

2. To fly out; to be thrown out with force. [Unusual.]

The ponderous ball expires.

3. To come to an end; to cease; to terminate; to close or conclude, as a given period. A lease will expire on the first of May. The year expires on Monday. The contract will expire at Michaelmas. The days had not expired.

When forty years had expired. Acts 7:30.