expiration

American  

[ek-spuh-ray-shuhn] / ˌɛk spəˈreɪ ʃən /

noun

• expirations
  plural

1. a coming to an end; termination; close.

   the expiration of a contract.

2. the act of expiring, or breathing out; emission of air from the lungs.

3. Archaic. death.

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expiration British  

/ ˌɛkspɪˈreɪʃən /

noun

1. the finish of something; ending; expiry

2. the act, process, or sound of breathing out

3. rare a last breath; death

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expiration Scientific  

/ ĕk′spə-rā′shən /

1. See exhalation

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• nonexpiration
  noun
• preexpiration
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• expirations
  plural

Etymology

Origin of expiration

1375–1425; late Middle English expiracioun < Latin expīrātiōn- (stem of expīrātiō ), equivalent to expīrāt ( us ) (past participle of ex ( s ) pīrāre to expire ) + -iōn- -ion

Compare meaning

How does expiration compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:

• expiry vs. expiration

Explanation

Expiration is what happens when a lease or contract — or a period of time — has ended. The expiration of your library card means you need to sign up for a new one. You might notice that your container of yogurt is marked with a date — it's the expiration date, or the day the product is no longer fresh enough to be sold or eaten. Other things with expiration dates include magazine subscriptions, rental agreements, and drivers' licenses. All of these are a sort of contract that eventually ends, or expires. When you breathe out, that's technically also expiration, from the Latin expirare, "breathe out," or "breathe one's last breath."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

expiration expirations

At the same time, the contracts will lose some of their value as time passes and their expiration dates approach.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 10, 2026

Time to expiration and the volatility of the underlying stock index are dynamics that will drive price action in the ETF.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 10, 2026

Breanne Gilliam, a corporate lawyer at Maddin Hauser, said the film commitment is meaningful, even if it comes with an expiration date.

From BBC ● Oct. 6, 2026

The two sides agreed to extend an existing agreement on trade by two months, pushing its expiration to Jan. 10 to buy time for a broader deal.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 25, 2026

He picked up a snack cake, turned it over to check the expiration date.

From "Look Both Ways" by Jason Reynolds

The pharma industry is entering its biggest wave of patent expirations in decades.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 29, 2026

But it’s cheap for a reason, with patent expirations coming up.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 3, 2026

For example, an options trader might think it’s a good idea to buy October expirations now to capture this rise in volatility.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 23, 2026

Cancer heavyweights such as Merck and Bristol-Myers Squibb have been searching for targets because their blockbusters, Keytruda and Opdivo, face patent expirations that will erode sales for some of the industry’s bestselling drugs.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 10, 2026

They gradually lengthen the intervals between their inspirations and expirations, until, in three or four months, they succeed in making them an hour and a half.

From Scientific American Supplement, No. 497, July 11, 1885 by Various

Related Words

• expiry
• termination