expedition
Americannoun
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expeditions
plural
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an excursion, journey, or voyage made for some specific purpose, as of war or exploration.
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the group of persons, ships, etc., engaged in such an activity.
a large expedition of scientists and military personnel.
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promptness or speed in accomplishing something.
He worked with great expedition.
noun
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an organized journey or voyage for a specific purpose, esp for exploration or for a scientific or military purpose
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the people and equipment comprising an expedition
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a pleasure trip; excursion
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promptness in acting; dispatch
Usage
What is an expedition? An expedition is an organized journey or voyage made with a specific purpose, as in Johann packed only a large backpack for the expedition across the Alps. An expedition can describe any trip made with a specific purpose or for the purpose of simple exploration. The term is used formally by militaries, cartographers, groups that aim to protect wildlife, and many others. For example, a military expedition is a specific type of military operation in which a group of soldiers move into a foreign country to accomplish a task. Expedition can also be used to refer to a pleasure trip, especially for a trip to a location that is farther than a person would normally go. Expedition can also refer to the group of people who go on the trip. For example, a scientific expedition to the rainforest can mean the trip to the rainforest or those who go on the trip. Example: We took an expedition around the world to see all the sights.
Synonym Usage
See trip 1.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of expedition
First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English, from Latin expedītiōn- (stem of expedītiō ) “a (military) traveling.” See expedite, -ion
Explanation
An expedition is an organized journey that is undertaken for a particular purpose, like a group of scientists launching an expedition to South America to seek out a new medicinal herb. An expedition is no walk in the park. It's a serious journey, often with a very specific purpose undertaken by several people and lots of equipment. Sometimes, it can even be dangerous, like when the arctic adventurer was attacked by polar bears during an expedition to the Arctic. Needless to say, he hung up his explorer's hat after that expedition.
Vocabulary lists containing expedition
The Diary of Anne Frank
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Excerpt from "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer"
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Julius Caesar
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
As part of his preparations for the series, Bartlett went on a photo-taking expedition through Seattle and Tacoma, collecting imagery of Pacific Northwest grunge to share with his artists: crumbling walls, fire escapes, water towers.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 7, 2026
In the months afterward, he embarked on an ill-advised expedition to find gold in the headwaters of the Columbia River in Canada.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 6, 2026
"This discovery illustrates why fieldwork remains indispensable to understanding life's history," said the study's lead author Andres Giallombardo, who found the specimen as a graduate student on a Museum-sponsored expedition in 2004.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 28, 2026
At least 10 Nepalese climbers who were preparing to lead an expedition in the Himalayas are missing after an avalanche hit a base camp on Sunday morning.
From BBC ● Sep. 27, 2026
These were the words Roosevelt lived by, and he knew that the expedition would require only the strongest men—and the luckiest.
From "Death on the River of Doubt" by Samantha Seiple
Friends and family describe Wolfe as a force of nature, often dressed in camouflage shorts and ready with stories of his travels, fishing expeditions and the objects surrounding him.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 22, 2026
But funding for paleontology remains limited and the research community small, while expeditions into remote areas can be costly.
From Barron's ● Sep. 3, 2026
“I feel a sense of crisis,” Kamada said in an interview, his office a few hundred yards from the docks where fishing boats and whale-watching expeditions put out to sea.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 3, 2026
Many people picture major paleontological discoveries happening during expeditions in remote landscapes.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 21, 2026
Those who do become sick and openly acknowledge it, moreover, will often be blacklisted from future employment on expeditions.
From "Into Thin Air" by Jon Krakauer
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
