compress
See also: kompres
English
Etymology 1
From Middle English compressen, from Old French compresser, from Late Latin compressare (“to press hard/together”), from Latin compressus, the past participle of comprimō (“to compress”), itself from com- (“together”) + premō (“press”).
Pronunciation
- enPR: kəmprĕs', IPA(key): /kəmˈpɹɛs/
Audio (US), verb (file) - Rhymes: -ɛs
Verb
compress (third-person singular simple present compresses, present participle compressing, simple past and past participle compressed)
- (transitive) To make smaller; to press or squeeze together, or to make something occupy a smaller space or volume.
- The force required to compress a spring varies linearly with the displacement.
- 1825 June 17, Daniel Webster, Speech on the laying of the Corner Stone of the Bunker Hill Monument:
- events of centuries […] compressed within the compass of a single life
- 1810, William Melmoth (translator), Letters of Pliny
- The same strength of expression, though more compressed, runs through his historical harangues.
- (intransitive) To be pressed together or folded by compression into a more economic, easier format.
- Our new model compresses easily, ideal for storage and travel
- (transitive) To condense into a more economic, easier format.
- This chart compresses the entire audit report into a few lines on a single diagram.
- (transitive) To abridge.
- If you try to compress the entire book into a three-sentence summary, you will lose a lot of information.
- (technology, transitive) To make digital information smaller by encoding it using fewer bits.
- (obsolete) To embrace sexually.
- 1717, Alexander Pope, “The Fable of Dryope. From the Ninth Book of Ovid’s Metamorphoses.”, in The Works of Mr. Alexander Pope, volume I, London: […] W[illiam] Bowyer, for Bernard Lintot, […], OCLC 43265629, page 295:
- This nymph compreſs'd by him vvho rules the day, / VVhom Delphi and the Delian iſle obey, / Andræmon lov'd; and, bleſs'd in all thoſe charms / That pleas'd a God, ſucceeded to her arms.
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Synonyms
- (press together): compact, condense, pack, press, squash, squeeze; see also Thesaurus:compress
- (be pressed together): contract
- (condense, abridge): abridge, condense, shorten, truncate; see also Thesaurus:shorten
Antonyms
- (press together): expand
- (be pressed together): decontract
- (condense, abridge): expand, lengthen
- (make computing data smaller): uncompress
Derived terms
Derived terms
- compressed
- compressed air
- compressedly
- compressibility
- compressible
- compression
- compressive
- compressive strength
- compressor
- decompress
Related terms
- compression
Translations
to press together into a smaller space
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to be pressed together
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to condense
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to abridge — see abridge
to encode digital information into less bits
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- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked
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Etymology 2
From Middle French compresse, from compresse (“to compress”), from Late Latin compressare (“to press hard/together”), from Latin compressus, the past participle of comprimō (“to compress”), itself from com- (“together”) + premō (“press”).
Pronunciation
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈkɒmpɹɛs/
- (US) enPR: kŏm'prĕs, IPA(key): /ˈkɑmpɹɛs/
Audio (US), noun (file)
Noun
compress (plural compresses)
- A multiply folded piece of cloth, a pouch of ice etc., used to apply to a patient's skin, cover the dressing of wounds, and placed with the aid of a bandage to apply pressure on an injury.
- He held a cold compress over the sprain.
- A machine for compressing.
Related terms
- compression
Translations
cloth used to dress or apply pressure to wounds
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