Expedition Meaning
/ɛkspəˈdɪʃən/Definition, CEFR level B2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
nounThe act of expediting something; prompt execution.
nounA military journey; an enterprise against some enemy or into enemy territory.
Sentence Examples
The boy dreamed of going on an Antarctic expedition.
Who was the leader of the expedition?
The scientists planned a research expedition to the Antarctic region.
CEFR Practice Quiz
The ____ to the Arctic required months of careful planning and special gear.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The scientific ____ set out to explore the depths of the ocean and search for new species.
Word Origin & History
From Middle French expédition, and its source, Latin expeditio.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"Once established in their capital at Nanking, occupied March, 1853, and renamed “Heavenly Capital” (T’ien-ching), the Taipings sent out an expedition to take Peking which again made striking gains initially, but was eventually slowed, isolated, and defeated."
— 1960, “The Heavenly Kingdom of the Taipings”, in Wm. Theodore de Bary, Wing-tsit Chan, Chester Tan, compilers, Sources of Chinese Tradition, volume II, New York; London: Columbia University Press, →OCLC, pages 21–22:
"one of them began to come nearer our boat than at first I expected; but I lay ready for him, for I had loaded my gun with all possible expedition […]."
— 1719 May 6 (Gregorian calendar), [Daniel Defoe], The Life and Strange Surprizing Adventures of Robinson Crusoe, […], London: […] W[illiam] Taylor […], →OCLC:
"he presently exerted his utmost agility, and with surprizing expedition ascended the hill."
— 1749, Henry Fielding, Tom Jones, Folio Society, published 1973, page 331:
"He saw the same Turnkey unfetter a man / With but little expedition, / Which put him in mind of the long debate / On the Slave-trade abolition."
— 1834 [1799], Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Robert Southey, “The Devil's Thoughts”, in The Poetical Works of S. T. Coleridge, volume II, London: W. Pickering, page 86:
"The photographer had photographed, the doctor had certified life extinct, the pathologist had inspected the body in situ as a prelude to conducting his autopsy – all with an expedition quite contrary to the proper pace of things, merely in order to clear the way for the visiting irregular, as the Deputy Assistant Commissioner (Crime and Ops) had liked to call him."
— 1979, John Le Carré, Smiley's People, Folio Society, published 2010, page 33:
Explore More B2 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The ____ to the Arctic required months of careful planning and special gear.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The scientific ____ set out to explore the depths of the ocean and search for new species.