expire

[ik-spahyuhr]

verb (used without object)

expired, expiring 

1. to come to an end; terminate, as a contract, guarantee, or offer.

2. to emit the last breath; die.

3. to breathe out.

4. to die out, as a fire.

verb (used with object)

expired, expiring 

1. to breathe out; emit (air) from the lungs.

2. Archaic.,  to give off, emit, or eject.

expire

/ ɪkˈspaɪə /

verb

1. (intr) to finish or run out; cease; come to an end

2. to breathe out (air); exhale

3. (intr) to die

Other Word Forms

• expirer noun
• expiringly adverb
• nonexpiring adjective
• unexpired adjective
• unexpiring adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of expire¹

1375–1425; late Middle English < Latin ex ( s ) pīrāre to breathe out, equivalent to ex- ex- ¹ + spīrāre to breathe

Word History and Origins

Origin of expire¹

C15: from Old French expirer, from Latin exspīrāre to breathe out, from spīrāre to breathe

Example Sentences

Customers shopped not only because the $7,500 tax credit was expiring but because they feared there would soon be less choice and fewer EVs to buy.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

The sticking point has been a refusal by Republicans to include language in the bill to address expiring subsidies that make health insurance affordable for 24 million Americans.

Read more on Barron's

“The China rare earth curbs expose potential trade war concerns with the U.S.-China truce expiring on Nov. 10,” Saxo Markets strategist Neil Wilson said.

Read more on Barron's

To cancel an additional $4.9 billion, he revived a rarely used gambit called a “pocket rescission,” freezing the funds until they expired.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Both sides keep running into an intrinsic limit: Everything expires after exactly 29 minutes, exploding into digital ash in a process euphemistically called de-resolution.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• cease 
• close 
• conclude 
• depart 
• die 
• finish 
• lapse 
• pass 
• pass away 
• quit 
• run out 
• terminate