Compress

Quick meaning: Compress is a verb meaning (transitive) To make smaller; to press or squeeze together, or to make something occupy a smaller space or volume.

Meaning

(transitive) To make smaller; to press or squeeze together, or to make something occupy a smaller space or volume.

More Meanings

1. (intransitive) To be pressed together or folded by compression into a more economic, easier format.
2. (transitive) To condense into a more economic, easier format.
3. (transitive) To abridge.
4. (computing, transitive) To make digital information smaller by encoding it using fewer bits.
5. (physics, transitive) To make a pulse or particle bunch shorter by applying dispersion to it.
6. (medicine) 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.
7. (obsolete) To embrace sexually.

Example Sentences

Our new model compresses easily, ideal for storage and travel

events of centuries […] compressed within the compass of a single life

The force required to compress a spring varies linearly with the displacement.

This chart compresses the entire audit report into a few lines on a single diagram.

Word Forms

• compresses
• compressing
• compressed

Synonyms for compress

Depending on context, synonyms include astringe, compact, telescope, compactify, condense, densitize.

Antonyms for compress

Common opposites include decompact, decompactify, decompress, expand, uncompress, densen.

Related Words

Related dictionary entries include press, constrict, squeeze, compact, contract, compression.

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