Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- intransitive verb To make amends or reparation for; atone for.
- intransitive verb To make amends; atone.
from The Century Dictionary.
- To atone for; make satisfaction or reparation for; remove or endeavor to remove the moral guilt of (a crime or evil act), or counteract its evil effects, by suffering a penalty or doing some counterbalancing good.
- To avert by certain observances.
- Expired.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- adjective obsolete Terminated.
- transitive verb To extinguish the guilt of by sufferance of penalty or some equivalent; to make complete satisfaction for; to atone for; to make amends for; to make expiation for.
- transitive verb obsolete To purify with sacred rites.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- verb transitive or intransitive To
atone or makereparation for. - verb transitive To make
amends or pay thepenalty for. - verb transitive, obsolete To
relieve orcleanse ofguilt .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- verb make amends for
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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He realized the gravity of his action, in killing the Tsar's representative, and, while viewing it as necessary, resolved to "expiate" his crime by taking his own life.
A Finnish Brutus? Matterhorn 2009
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He realized the gravity of his action, in killing the Tsar's representative, and, while viewing it as necessary, resolved to "expiate" his crime by taking his own life.
Archive 2009-03-01 Matterhorn 2009
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We feel a tinge of guilt that we expiate in this season of giving.
William Grassie: Christmas From The Outside In: A Meditation William Grassie 2011
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She could gain her freedom from jail by agreeing to marry her rapist, and thus expiate her "adultery."
David Katz, M.D.: Dignifying Health: Why Not Quite Everything Is Relative M.D. David Katz 2011
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We can expiate that sin in this vital mid-term election.
Paula Gordon: Rule AND Ruin Paula Gordon 2010
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We feel a tinge of guilt that we expiate in this season of giving.
William Grassie: Christmas From The Outside In: A Meditation William Grassie 2011
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She could gain her freedom from jail by agreeing to marry her rapist, and thus expiate her "adultery."
David Katz, M.D.: Dignifying Health: Why Not Quite Everything Is Relative M.D. David Katz 2011
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She could gain her freedom from jail by agreeing to marry her rapist, and thus expiate her "adultery."
David Katz, M.D.: Dignifying Health: Why Not Quite Everything Is Relative M.D. David Katz 2011
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This guy and his former boss, Mike Huckabee, wear their religion on their sleeve and use it to expiate guilt and diffuse personal accountability for what they do.
HuckPAC coordinator steps down, citing clemency decision 2009
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She could gain her freedom from jail by agreeing to marry her rapist, and thus expiate her "adultery."
David Katz, M.D.: Dignifying Health: Why Not Quite Everything Is Relative M.D. David Katz 2011
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