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: no longer valid : having exceeded its period of validity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 officers eventually issue Holloway a citation for his expired registration, but not for running the stop sign. —Brian Niemietz, New York Daily News, 17 Jan. 2025

Because of the shrinking availability of less painful lethal injection drugs, some states have simply taken their chances with expired drugs, or even reverted to more brutal forms of execution. —Benedict Cosgrove, Newsweek, 18 Dec. 2024

Peacock ruled Wolfe legally retains her position beyond an expired term because of a 2022 ruling that allowed Frederick Prehn, a holdover from Republican former Gov. Scott Walker's administration, to remain on the state's Natural Resources Board nearly two years after his term ended. —Jessie Opoien, Journal Sentinel, 18 Nov. 2024

After being pulled over for an expired license plate, McCoy shot the pair with a pistol. —Alexandra Koch, Fox News, 26 Feb. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1631, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for expired

• reacquired
• aspired
• attired
• retired
• mired
• spired