expire
[ik-spahyuh r]
- to come to an end; terminate, as a contract, guarantee, or offer.
- to emit the last breath; die.
- to breathe out.
- to die out, as a fire.
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- to breathe out; emit (air) from the lungs.
- Archaic. to give off, emit, or eject.
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Origin of expire
1375–1425; late Middle English < Latin ex(s)pīrāre to breathe out, equivalent to ex- ex-1 + spīrāre to breathe
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for expiring
Contemporary Examples
They already knew about Stalin expiring, as that was what the amnesty was for.
Later generations of medieval copyists would do the same—inserting doctrinal formulae into the mouths of expiring martyrs.
We knew the Bush tax cuts were expiring, we knew the sequestration cuts were coming in.
Historical Examples
"But he will come," she thought swiftly, to cover the pang of that expiring hope.
The Innocent AdventuressMary Hastings Bradley
"'It's a blinkin' day-dream," returned Joe, forcing the car to an expiring spurt.
The Burning SpearJohn Galsworthy
"Can't think when yer drunk, Pete," he muttered with an expiring grin.
The Vagrant DukeGeorge Gibbs
The grant, however, was expiring, and he petitioned the queen that it might be renewed.
Queen ElizabethJacob Abbott
It was the expiring tribute of allegiance to the chief he adored.
Charles O'Malley, The Irish Dragoon, Volume 2 (of 2)Charles Lever
expire
- (intr) to finish or run out; cease; come to an end
- to breathe out (air); exhale
- (intr) to die
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Word Origin
C15: from Old French expirer, from Latin exspīrāre to breathe out, from spīrāre to breathe
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for expiring
expire
v.
c.1400, "to die," from Middle French expirer (12c.) "expire, elapse," from Latin expirare/exspirare "breathe out, breathe one's last, die," from ex- "out" (see ex-) + spirare "to breathe" (see spirit). "Die" is the older sense in English; that of "breathe out" is first attested 1580s. Of laws, patents, treaties, etc., mid-15c. Related: Expired; expiring.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
expire
(ĭk-spīr′)- To breathe one's last breath; die.
- To exhale.
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The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.