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Exact historical dictionary sense

Express in Webster's 1913 dictionary

The 1913 record labels express as verb. Its source-bounded etymology and selected historical definition appear below.

WEBSTER 1913verb
Express

[Cf. OF. espresser, expresser, L. exprimere, expressum. See Express, a.; cf. Sprain.]

Cross-verified historical sense
The source text may be outdated. The page preserves that historical boundary.
Cross-verified 1913 record
Headwordexpress
Part of speechverb
Historical etymology[Cf. OF. espresser, expresser, L. exprimere, expressum. See Express, a.; cf. Sprain.]
Selected historical definitionTo press or squeeze out; as, to express the juice of grapes, or of apples; hence, to extort; to elicit.
Signed record IDwebster1913-express-verb-ed18c6ec8372
Source locatorCIDE.E, paragraph 8666; Gutenberg eBook 662
Edition-scoped answerNot earliest-attestation proofNot modern consensus
Independent historical textProject Gutenberg section 662Signed structural record sourceGNU GCIDE 0.54 archive
Quick answer

In Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913), "express" is labeled verb. Its etymology is recorded as: "[Cf. OF. espresser, expresser, L. exprimere, expressum. See Express, a.; cf. Sprain.]" The selected historical definition says: "To press or squeeze out; as, to express the juice of grapes, or of apples; hence, to extort; to elicit."

Project Gutenberg Webster 1913 plus signed GNU GCIDE 0.54 Exact cross-verified historical record reviewed 2026-10-04

What this answer proves

One named sense in one historical dictionary edition.

The answer reports the selected headword, part of speech, etymology, definition, and source locator as transcribed in the cross-verified 1913 record.

Evidence boundaryIt does not establish the earliest attestation or a complete borrowing chain.It does not claim current scholarly consensus or a modern dictionary definition.Historical dictionary text may be obsolete, incomplete, inaccurate, or offensive by modern standards.

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