vbl. sb. [f. as prec. + -ING1.] The action of the vb. EXPRESS; the action a. of pressing out, pressing out the contents of; b. of representing, uttering, or manifesting (thoughts, meanings, etc.). Now gerundial.
1530. Palsgr., Introd., 17. No parte of the vowell, at his expressyng, shulde passe forth by the mowth.
1627. Lisander & Cal., I. 4. The situation whereof, being pleasant beyond expressing, would haue reioyced sorrow it selfe.
a. 1631. Donne, Lett. (1651), 260. I cannot hope for better expressings [in Poems] then I have given of them.
1668. Wilkins, Real Char., 355. The expressing of any one syllable in a word, with a little higher tune, and longer time then others, is to be exprest by an accent.
1889. J. C. Aitken Henderson, in Pall Mall Gaz., 6 May, 2/1. The … expressing of seed for oils.
