# compress
## English
### 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”).

#### Pronunciation

* enPR: kəmprĕs', IPA: /kəmˈpɹɛs/
* Audio (US); “compress” (verb):(file)
* Rhymes: -ɛs

#### Verb

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.

##### Synonyms

* (press together): compact, condense, pack, press, squash, squeeze; see also Thesaurus:compress
* (be pressed together): contract
* (condense, abridge): abridge, condense, shorten, truncate; see also Thesaurus:shorten

##### Antonyms

* (press together): expand
* (be pressed together): decontract
* (condense, abridge): expand, lengthen
* (make computing data smaller): uncompress

##### Derived terms

* compressed
* compressed air
* compressedly
* compressibility
* compressible
* compressingly
* compression
* compressive
* compressive strength
* compressor
* compressure
* decompress
* overcompress
* precompress
* recompress
* supercompress

##### Related terms

* compression

##### Translations

    The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

### 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”).

#### Pronunciation

* (Received Pronunciation) IPA: /ˈkɒmpɹɛs/
* (US) enPR: kŏm'prĕs, IPA: /ˈkɑmpɹɛs/
* Audio (US); “compress” (noun):(file)

#### Noun

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.

##### Related terms

* compression