expire
B2Neutral to formal; common in administrative, legal, and technical contexts.
Definition
Meaning
To come to an end; to cease to be valid or in effect.
To die or to breathe out (air).
Linguistics
Semantic Notes
Primarily used for things with a set duration (contracts, licenses, periods). The 'die' sense is literary/formal. The 'breathe out' sense is technical/medical and rare in everyday use.
Dialectal Variation
British vs American Usage
Differences
No significant difference in core meaning. The 'die' sense is slightly more common in American literary usage.
Connotations
Neutral for documents; formal/literary for death.
Frequency
Equally common in both varieties for the 'come to an end' sense.
Vocabulary
Collocations
Grammar
Valency Patterns
[Subject: thing] expires (on/at [date/time])[Subject: person] expired (literary)Vocabulary
Synonyms
Strong
Neutral
Weak
Vocabulary
Antonyms
Phrases
Idioms & Phrases
- “The clock is ticking (before something expires).”
Usage
Context Usage
Business
Referring to the end date of contracts, offers, or subscriptions.
Academic
Used in legal, economic, or historical texts discussing the termination of treaties, patents, or periods.
Everyday
Most commonly used for driving licences, passports, food, and parking tickets.
Technical
In computing, for session timeouts or cache validity; in medicine, for exhalation.
Examples
By Part of Speech
verb
British English
- Your road tax will expire at the end of the month.
- The option to renew will expire if not exercised promptly.
American English
- My driver's license expires next week.
- The coupon expires on December 31st.
adverb
British English
- N/A (Not standard; 'expiringly' is obsolete.)
American English
- N/A (Not standard; 'expiringly' is obsolete.)
adjective
British English
- We cannot accept an expired passport for identification.
- Check the label for the expired use-by date.
American English
- The system flagged an expired credit card.
- They removed expired medications from the cabinet.
Examples
By CEFR Level
- My milk will expire tomorrow.
- The ticket expires soon.
- You need to renew your passport before it expires.
- Our rental agreement expires in June.
- The patent is due to expire, allowing generic versions of the drug.
- He held his breath for a minute before finally expiring the air.
- The ceasefire expired at midnight, leading to renewed hostilities.
- In the novel, the old king expired peacefully, surrounded by his family.
Learning
Memory Aids
Mnemonic
Think of EXPIRE as EX-it + PERIOD. Something exits its period of validity.
Conceptual Metaphor
VALIDITY IS A LIVING ENTITY / TIME IS A RESOURCE THAT RUNS OUT.
Watch out
Common Pitfalls
Translation Traps (for Russian speakers)
- Do not confuse with 'испариться' (to evaporate). The Russian 'истекать' is a close equivalent for documents, but for people, 'умереть' is standard; 'испустить дух' is the direct, very literary equivalent of 'expire'.
Common Mistakes
- Using 'expire' for people in everyday contexts (too formal/literary). Incorrect: *My grandfather expired last year. Correct: My grandfather passed away last year.
- Confusing 'expire' with 'inspire'.
Practice
Quiz
In which context is the use of 'expire' for a person MOST appropriate?
FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
'Die' is the standard, neutral word for death. 'Expire' is a formal, often literary synonym, focusing on the 'breathing out' of life. It is not used in everyday speech about death.
Yes, commonly. We say food 'expires' or 'is expired' when it passes its use-by or best-before date.
In British English, 'expiry' (as in 'expiry date') is standard. In American English, 'expiration' (as in 'expiration date') is more common, though 'expiry' is understood.
To 'renew' it. You renew a licence before it expires.