compress

American  

[kuhm-pres, kom-pres] / kəmˈprɛs, ˈkɒm prɛs /

verb (used with object)

• compresses,
  present (3rd person singular)
• compressed,
  past participle,  past
• compressing
  present participle

1. to press together; force into less space.

   Synonyms:

   constrict, squeeze, condense

   Antonyms:

   lay, expand

2. to cause to become a solid mass.

   to compress cotton into bales.

3. to condense, shorten, or abbreviate.

   The book was compressed by 50 pages.

4. Computers. to reduce the storage space required for (data) by changing its format.

   The algorithm should compress the video file without losing any quality.

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noun

• compresses
  plural

1. Medicine/Medical. a soft, cloth pad held in place by a bandage and used to provide pressure or to supply moisture, cold, heat, or medication.

2. an apparatus for compressing cotton bales.

3. a warehouse for storing cotton bales before shipment.

compress British  

verb

1. (tr) to squeeze together or compact into less space; condense

2. computing to apply a compression program to (electronic data) so that it takes up less space

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noun

1. a wet or dry cloth or gauze pad with or without medication, applied firmly to some part of the body to relieve discomfort, reduce fever, drain a wound, etc

2. a machine for packing material, esp cotton, under pressure

Synonym Usage

See contract.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• compressibleness
  noun
• overcompress
  verb (used with object)
• precompress
  verb (used with object)
• compressible
  adjective
• noncompressible
  adjective
• uncompressible
  adjective
• compressibly
  adverb
• compressingly
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• compresses
  plural

Participles

• compressing
  present
• compressed
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• compress
  simple
• compresses
  simple
• have compressed
  perfect
• has compressed
  perfect
• am compressing
  progressive
• are compressing
  progressive
• is compressing
  progressive
• have been compressing
  perfect progressive
• has been compressing
  perfect progressive

Past

• compressed
  simple
• had compressed
  perfect
• was compressing
  progressive
• were compressing
  progressive
• had been compressing
  perfect progressive

Future

• will compress
  simple
• will have compressed
  perfect
• will be compressing
  progressive
• will have been compressing
  perfect progressive

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Etymology

Origin of compress

1350–1400; (v.) Middle English (< Middle French compresser ) < Late Latin compressāre, frequentative of Latin comprimere to squeeze together ( see com-, press ¹); (noun) < Middle French compresse, noun derivative of the v.

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Explanation

The noun compress refers to a pad that's held to your body to reduce pain or symptoms of illness. A washcloth dipped in cold water and pressed onto your forehead to help you cool down is a type of compress. As a verb, compress means to squeeze together with a fair amount of pressure. When you compress a sponge to get all the water out, you press it between your palms or squish it between your fingers. Compress can also mean to make something more compact — as with the sponge, when you compress an object it gets smaller. You could even compress a speech by cutting it down into a shorter but equally effective version.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

compress compresses compressed compressing

By carefully changing the separation between these electrodes, the team could stretch or compress the molecular screw.

From Science Daily ● Nov. 1, 2026

Delayed grandparenthood can compress the healthy years seniors spend actively involved in their grandchildren’s lives, including providing free child care.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 24, 2026

On the plus side, Micron’s notably low multiple doesn’t leave much space to compress, making the stock “somewhat defensive if earnings at least grind higher,” Chin said.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 21, 2026

If the ratio of workers to pensioners continues to compress, the tax base required to fund rising healthcare and pension costs becomes increasingly strained.

From BBC ● Oct. 12, 2026

Several seconds pass with him holding the bottle to his face like a compress, his eyes still closed, the sun streaming down on him like he’s being chosen.

From "I'll Give You the Sun" by Jandy Nelson

The collapsing capsule compresses fusion fuel to the extraordinary pressures and temperatures required for fusion reactions.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 20, 2026

“It is agentic-first, it compresses timelines from months to days and it is designed so customers are self-sufficient when a deployment ends,” Amazon said.

From MarketWatch ● Jun. 30, 2026

"Tessera compresses loads of that data and gives us really easy-to-use maps of the UK, where we can ask really specific questions about things we can see from space."

From BBC ● May 18, 2026

Here, the Pacific Flyway compresses into a living mosaic of wings, water and soil.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 7, 2026

Smelling salts were called for and cold compresses applied.

From "The Interrupted Tale" by Maryrose Wood

But Ms. Proulx’s stories read like full novels that have been radically compressed into 20 or 30 pages.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 3, 2026

In recent years, the country has also encouraged the use of compressed natural gas to power vehicles, with natural gas plants and filling stations set up mostly in the largest city, Dar es Salaam.

From BBC ● Oct. 28, 2026

The greater decrease in nerve size suggested that hydrodissection was more effective at reducing swelling around the compressed nerve.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 22, 2026

The emphasis is on the speed of the take-up because the industry is moving so fast, development cycles are being compressed all the time and some models are now obsolete within six months.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 21, 2026

It worked by compressing air into a container with a bellows and using the compressed air to power a dart or pellet.

From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton

Needless to say, there’s a lot going on in Butler’s busy, occasionally dizzying script, though compressing the approximately 550-page source material was surely no easy task.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 23, 2026

She developed pleural effusion — fluid between the lungs and ribs — compressing her lungs and making it hard for her to breathe.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 5, 2026

Winds can force floes farther north and push them into other ice, compressing the overall area covered by sea ice.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 14, 2026

This weather pattern results in air sinking downwards, compressing and heating up as it hits the ground.

From BBC ● Jul. 16, 2026

There’s a hazy blur to my thoughts, a vise compressing my head.

From "Every Day" by David Levithan

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Related Words

• abbreviate
• constrict
• cram
• restrict
• shorten
• shrink
• squeeze
• wrap

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