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Compress

//kəmˈpɹɛs// noun, verb

Definitions

Noun
  1. 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.

    "He held a cold compress over the sprain."

  2. 2
    a cloth pad or dressing (with or without medication) applied firmly to some part of the body (to relieve discomfort or reduce fever) wordnet
  3. 3
    A machine for compressing.
Verb
  1. 1
    To make smaller; to press or squeeze together, or to make something occupy a smaller space or volume. transitive

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

  2. 2
    squeeze or press together wordnet
  3. 3
    To be pressed together or folded by compression into a more economic, easier format. intransitive

    "Our new model compresses easily, ideal for storage and travel"

  4. 4
    make more compact by or as if by pressing wordnet
  5. 5
    To condense into a more economic, easier format. transitive

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

Show 4 more definitions
  1. 6
    To abridge. transitive

    "If you try to compress the entire book into a three-sentence summary, you will lose a lot of information."

  2. 7
    To make digital information smaller by encoding it using fewer bits. transitive

    "The command-line tool gzip allows you to compress files in a few different ways. First, gzip can compress results from standard input."

  3. 8
    To make a pulse or particle bunch shorter by applying dispersion to it. transitive

    "Diffraction gratings are by far the most common elements used to stretch and compress pulses because of their substantial angular dispersion, […]"

  4. 9
    To embrace sexually. obsolete

    "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."

Etymology

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”).

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”).

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