compact
1 Americanadjective
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joined or packed together; closely and firmly united; dense; solid.
compact soil.
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arranged within a relatively small space.
a compact shopping center;
a compact kitchen.
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designed to be small in size and economical in operation.
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solidly or firmly built.
the compact body of a lightweight wrestler.
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expressed concisely; pithy; terse; not diffuse.
a compact review of the week's news.
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composed or made (usually followed byof ).
a book compact of form and content.
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Mathematics. Also (of a set) having the property that in any collection of open sets whose union contains the given set there exists a finite number of open sets whose union contains the given set; having the property that every open cover has a finite subcover.
verb (used with object)
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compacts,
present (3rd person singular)
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compacted,
past participle, past
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compacting
present participle
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to join or pack closely together; consolidate; condense.
- Synonyms:
- compress
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to make firm or stable.
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to form or make by close union or conjunction; make up or compose.
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Metallurgy. to compress (metallic or metallic and nonmetallic powders) in a die to be sintered.
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to crush into compact form for convenient disposal or for storage until disposal.
to compact rubbish.
noun
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a small case containing a mirror, face powder, a puff, and sometimes rouge.
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Also called compact car. an automobile that is smaller than an intermediate but larger than a subcompact and generally has a combined passenger and luggage volume of 100–110 cu. ft. (2.8–3.1 m3 ).
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Metallurgy. (in powder metallurgy) an object to be sintered formed of metallic or of metallic and nonmetallic powders compressed in a die.
noun
adjective
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closely packed together; dense
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neatly fitted into a restricted space
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concise; brief
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well constructed; solid; firm
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(foll by of) composed or made up (of)
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denoting a tabloid-sized version of a newspaper that has traditionally been published in broadsheet form
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logic (of a relation) having the property that for any pair of elements such that a is related to b, there is some element c such that a is related to c and c to b, as less than on the rational numbers
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(of a car) small and economical
verb
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to pack or join closely together; compress; condense
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(foll by of) to create or form by pressing together
sediment compacted of three types of clay
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metallurgy to compress (a metal powder) to form a stable product suitable for sintering
noun
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a small flat case containing a mirror, face powder, etc, designed to be carried in a woman's handbag
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a comparatively small and economical car
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metallurgy a mass of metal prepared for sintering by cold-pressing a metal powder
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a tabloid-sized version of a newspaper that has traditionally been publis hed in broadsheet form
noun
Synonym Usage
See agreement.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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compactednessnoun
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compacternoun
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compactionnoun
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compactnessnoun
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uncompactedadjective
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well-compactedadjective
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compactedlyadverb
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compactlyadverb
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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compactsimple
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compactssimple
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have compactedperfect
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has compactedperfect
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am compactingprogressive
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are compactingprogressive
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is compactingprogressive
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have been compactingperfect progressive
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has been compactingperfect progressive
Past
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compactedsimple
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had compactedperfect
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was compactingprogressive
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were compactingprogressive
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had been compactingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of compact1
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English, from Latin compāctus (past participle of compingere “to shut away, put away, bind together”), equivalent to com- prefix + pag-, stem of pangere “to fix, arrange” + -tus past participle suffix; see com-; cf. peace; pact, compact 2 )
Origin of compact2
First recorded in 1550–60; from Latin compactum, compectum, noun use of neuter of compactus (past participle of compacīscī “to make an agreement”), equivalent to com- prefix + pac- (stem of pacīscī “to secure by negotiation” + -tus past participle ending); see com-; cf. compact 1, pact, peace
Explanation
A compact is a signed written agreement that binds you to do what you've promised. It also refers to something small or closely grouped together, like the row of compact rental cars you see when you wanted a van. As a verb, compact means "to compress or squeeze together," like how the garbage truck compacts your bags of trash. Compact, the adjective, describes something that is tightly packed together, like your luggage that is so compact it fits in the overhead compartment. Compact can also describe a brief summary, like a compact explanation of how the universe began that lasted only 10 minutes!
Vocabulary lists containing compact
com-, con-
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"The Bet" by Anton Chekhov
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Talk Like Shakespeare Day, List 2
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
His Manchester City sides looked to force teams back into a compact defence, a challenge that in theory should be harder to break down.
From BBC ● Sep. 28, 2026
Technical limitations also made it hard to convert its compact film cameras to the new tech.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 27, 2026
Its setup evolved from more than 100 bands across 28 porchesto a more compact, walkable format in 2022.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 24, 2026
The first is a compact, tightly organized circulation close to the ocean surface.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 20, 2026
She pulled a compact out of her bag and checked herself as she moved, using the mirror to look over her shoulder.
From "Genuine Fraud" by E. Lockhart
Micronesia and the other two freely associated states, the Marshall Islands and Palau, are technically independent but have negotiated their own compacts with the U.S.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 19, 2026
“The social compacts that the people have sown in them are very ingrained.”
From Seattle Times ● May 28, 2024
For years, American drivers have been gravitating toward sport utility vehicles and away from sedans, compacts and hatchbacks.
From New York Times ● May 8, 2024
In compacts, we ourselves determine and promise what shall be done, before we are obliged to do it; in laws, we are obliged to act without ourselves determining or promising any thing at all.
From Salon ● Dec. 16, 2023
Kaz had told her to keep an eye out for women using similarly made mirrored compacts at the Crow Club.
From "Six of Crows" by Leigh Bardugo
The scans produced detailed three dimensional images of the compacted material inside the tooth sockets without damaging either the fossils or the sediment.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 5, 2026
Even the design of farm machinery was considered — and tractors were fitted with wider tires to ensure that soil was less compacted when driven over.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 23, 2026
He said trampling not only caused the flowers to break but also meant the ground underneath the plants becomes compacted so new plants could not grow.
From BBC ● May 10, 2026
These layers of ice holding dust, compacted for centuries, perhaps millennia, may be able to tell us about the atmosphere, temperatures and snowfalls deep into the past.
From Barron's ● Nov. 7, 2025
Well, there is a windowlike structure near the ceiling, but it offers a view only of compacted dirt, such as one might normally see when looking up from the grave.
From "Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America" by Barbara Ehrenreich
“While compacting the concrete aggregate base in advance of final street resurfacing, water began to pool at the surface toward the eastern edge of the work area,” the utility said in a news release.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 23, 2026
A digger methodically spread it out, compacting it as it worked.
From BBC ● Feb. 25, 2025
And because the ice is stable, the thick annual layers can accumulate for centuries, compacting into ice.
From Science Magazine ● Apr. 18, 2024
Deep in Antarctica’s frigid interior, fluffy, air-filled snow accumulates layer by layer, compacting into slabs of ice over millennia.
From Scientific American ● Feb. 9, 2023
After picking for two long hours, Roberto helped Mama make more room in her sack by lifting it upright and shaking it several times up and down, compacting the cotton to the bottom.
From "The Circuit: Stories from the Life of a Migrant Child" by Francisco Jiménez
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
