expired

adjective

ex·​pired ik-ˈspī(-ə)rd 

ek-

1

formal : dead, deceased

—often used as a euphemistic or humorous alternative to dead

A shovel, bucket, trash bags, and gloves are also useful items for cleaning up expired wildlife.

—Jeffrey Price and Jeffrey Forrest

… I've exercised my maternal instincts on him, doing a far better job of keeping him alive than all those expired plants now in the great compost pile in the sky.

—Kerry Quinn

There, firmly lodged within the pipe and obstructing the flow of water, was a catfish. The expired creature was removed, brought on board, and mounted in the main passenger cabin for all to see.

—John Laurence Busch

2

: no longer valid : having exceeded its period of validity

expired licenses

an expired contract

… Mr. Adams uses homemade software to download online books with expired copyrights …

—Michael M. Phillips

3

: having passed its expiration date (see expiration date sense 2)

expired milk

expired drugs

… networks that now take us into the homes of people who treasure their expired tuna cans more than they do their children …

—Carina Chocano

4

: emitted as or in a person's breath : breathed out

… the person exhales into a container at regular intervals and technicians measure the amount of hydrogen in the expired air.

—Colleen Sauber

Synonyms

• bygone
• bypast
• dead
• defunct
• departed
• done
• extinct
• gone
• nonextant
• vanished

Examples of expired in a Sentence

a wildlife organization dedicated to ensuring that the giant panda not be added to the list of expired species

Recent Examples on the Web

The arrest comes two years after French customs agents in Modane, near the Italian border, confiscated the work, thanks to an expired export license that the man presented. —Daniel Cassady, ARTnews.com, 3 Sep. 2019

About 40,000 workers in 20 cities who are represented by UNITE HERE face expired contracts, Reuters reported. —Jena McGregor, Forbes, 9 Sep. 2024

Routinely comb through expired coupons and papers that are no longer needed for records so the heap never has a chance to grow. —Kaylei Fear, Better Homes & Gardens, 9 Aug. 2024

At the time, it was confiscated due to an expired export license, which raised a red flag. —Abby Montanez, Robb Report, 13 Aug. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1631, in the meaning defined at sense 1