compress
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compress¹
- /kəmˈpɹɛs/
Rhymes with -ɛs
Where it comes from
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”).
verb compresses · compressing · compressed
-
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.
Similar: compact, condense, pack, press, squash, squeeze · Opposite: expand
-
To be pressed together or folded by compression into a more economic, easier format.
Our new model compresses easily, ideal for storage and travel
Similar: contract · Opposite: decontract
- To condense into a more economic, easier format. This chart compresses the entire audit report into a few lines on a single diagram.
-
To abridge.
If you try to compress the entire book into a three-sentence summary, you will lose a lot of information.
Similar: abridge, condense, shorten, truncate, abbreviate, chop down, chop off, cut short, compress, curt, curtail, lop off · Opposite: expand, lengthen
-
To make digital information smaller by encoding it using fewer bits.
The command-line tool gzip allows you to compress files in a few different ways. First, gzip can compress results from standard input.
Similar: zip · Opposite: uncompress, decompress, unzip
-
To make a pulse or particle bunch shorter by applying dispersion to it.
Diffraction gratings are by far the most common elements used to stretch and compress pulses because of their substantial angular dispersion, […]
Opposite: stretch
- To embrace sexually. 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.
Similar: astringe, compact, telescope, compactify, condense, densitize, pack, press, mash, scrunch, smush, squoosh, squash, squish, squeeze, thring, thrutch · Opposite: decompact, decompactify, decompress, expand, uncompress, densen
compress²
- /ˈkɒmpɹɛs/ UK
- /ˈkɑmpɹɛs/ US
Where it comes from
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”).
noun 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.
Thesaurus
Closest in meaning: press, constrict, squeeze, compact, contract, pack together, compression, condense, compressive, shorten, shrink, reduce, zip, cut, pack, pad
Translations
Every language
verb to press together into a smaller space
| Español | comprimir |
|---|---|
| 日本語 | 圧縮する asshuku suru |
| 中文 | 壓縮 /压缩 yāsuō |
| Português | comprimir |
| Français | comprimer |
| Deutsch | komprimieren |
| Italiano | comprimere |
| Ελληνικά | συμπιέζω sympiézo |
| Русский | сжима́ть sžimátʹ, сжать sžatʹ, сда́вливать sdávlivatʹ, сдави́ть sdavítʹ |
verb to be pressed together
| Español | comprimirse |
|---|---|
| Русский | сжима́ться sžimátʹsja, сжа́ться sžátʹsja |
verb to condense
| 日本語 | 要約する yōyaku suru |
|---|---|
| Deutsch | komprimieren |
| Русский | уплотня́ть uplotnjátʹ, уплотни́ть uplotnítʹ |
verb to encode digital information into less bits
| Español | comprimir |
|---|---|
| 日本語 | 圧縮する asshuku suru |
| 中文 | 壓縮 /压缩 yāsuō |
| Português | comprimir |
| Français | compresser |
| Deutsch | komprimieren |
Talk about this word "compress." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/compress. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. compress. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/compress "compress." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/compress.Cite this
@misc{compress_2026,
title = {compress},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/compress},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
