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 ” ) .
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, transl., 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 , 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.
to press together into a smaller space
Armenian: սեղմել (hy) ( seġmel ) , ճզմել (hy) ( čzmel )
Bulgarian: сбивам (bg) ( sbivam ) , сгъстявам (bg) ( sgǎstjavam )
Burmese: သိပ် (my) ( sip )
Catalan: comprimir (ca)
Chinese:
Mandarin: 壓縮 / 压缩 (zh) ( yāsuō )
Dutch: comprimeren (nl) , samendrukken (nl) , verdichten (nl)
Esperanto: kunpremi
Finnish: puristaa (fi) , pusertaa (fi) , kompressoida
French: comprimer (fr)
German: komprimieren (de)
Irish: dlúthaigh
Italian: comprimere (it)
Japanese: 圧縮する (ja) ( asshuku suru )
Latin: comprimō , stringō
Maori: whakawhāiti , kurutē
Portuguese: comprimir (pt)
Russian: сжима́ть (ru) impf ( sžimátʹ ) , сжать (ru) pf ( sžatʹ ) , сда́вливать (ru) impf ( sdávlivatʹ ) , сдави́ть (ru) pf ( sdavítʹ )
Scots: pran
Spanish: comprimir (es)
Swedish: packa (sv)
Welsh: cywasgu , gwasgu (cy)
Translations to be checked
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 ” ) .
compress (plural compresses )
( 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.
He held a cold compress over the sprain.
A machine for compressing .
cloth used to dress or apply pressure to wounds