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compress

Pronunciation: /kəmˈpɹɛs/

The English word “compress” has 9 meanings listed here.

verb

  1. To make smaller; to press or squeeze together, or to make something occupy a smaller space or volume.
  2. To be pressed together or folded by compression into a more economic, easier format.
  3. To condense into a more economic, easier format.
  4. To abridge.
  5. To make digital information smaller by encoding it using fewer bits.
  6. To make a pulse or particle bunch shorter by applying dispersion to it.
  7. To embrace sexually.

noun

  1. 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.
  2. A machine for compressing.

Etymology

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”).

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Definitions are from Wiktionary, extracted by Kaikki.org, and are available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.