expiration

/ˈɛkspəˌreɪʃən/

/ɛkspəˈreɪʃən/

Other forms: expirations

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."

Definitions of expiration

1. noun

   a coming to an end of a contract period
   synonyms: expiry, termination

   type of:

   end, ending

   the point in time at which something ends
2. noun

   euphemistic expressions for death
   synonyms: departure, exit, going, loss, passing, release

   type of:

   death, decease, demise, expiry

   the event of dying or departure from life
3. noun

   the act of expelling air from the lungs
   synonyms: breathing out, exhalation

   types:

   huffing, puffing, snorting

   an act of forcible exhalation

   blow, puff

   forceful exhalation through the nose or mouth

   wind

   breath

   insufflation

   an act of blowing or breathing on or into something

   type of:

   breath

   the process of taking in and expelling air during breathing