express

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
express1 /ɪkˈsprɛs, ɛk-/

▶verb

• 1 convey (a thought or feeling) in words or by gestures and conduct.

• 2 press out (liquid or air).

• 3 Mathematics represent by a figure, symbol, or formula.

• 4 Genetics cause (an inherited characteristic or gene) to appear in a phenotype.

– derivatives
expresser noun,
expressible adjective.

– origin ME: from OFr. expresser, based on L. ex- ‘out’ + pressare ‘to press’.

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
express2 /ɪkˈsprɛs, ɛk-/

▶adjective operating at high speed.

■ denoting a service in which deliveries are made by a special messenger.

▶adverb by express train or delivery service. ▶noun

• 1 (also express train) a train that stops at few stations and so travels quickly.

• 2 a special delivery service.

▶verb send by express messenger or delivery.

– origin C18: extension of express3; the adjective is from express train, reflecting an earlier sense of express ‘done or made for a special purpose’, later interpreted in the sense ‘rapid’.

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
express3 /ɪkˈsprɛs, ɛk-, ˈɛksprɛs/

▶adjective stated explicitly.

■ specific; particular.

– derivatives
expressly adverb.

– origin ME: from OFr. expres, from L. expressus ‘distinctly presented’, past part. of exprimere ‘press out’.