compress
Americanverb (used with object)
-
compresses,
present (3rd person singular)
-
compressed,
past participle, past
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compressing
present participle
-
to press together; force into less space.
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to cause to become a solid mass.
to compress cotton into bales.
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to condense, shorten, or abbreviate.
The book was compressed by 50 pages.
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Computers. to reduce the storage space required for (data) by changing its format.
The algorithm should compress the video file without losing any quality.
noun
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compresses
plural
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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.
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an apparatus for compressing cotton bales.
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a warehouse for storing cotton bales before shipment.
verb
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(tr) to squeeze together or compact into less space; condense
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computing to apply a compression program to (electronic data) so that it takes up less space
noun
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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
-
a machine for packing material, esp cotton, under pressure
Synonym Usage
See contract.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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compressiblenessnoun
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overcompressverb (used with object)
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precompressverb (used with object)
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compressibleadjective
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noncompressibleadjective
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uncompressibleadjective
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compressiblyadverb
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compressinglyadverb
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
compresssimple
-
compressessimple
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have compressedperfect
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has compressedperfect
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am compressingprogressive
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are compressingprogressive
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is compressingprogressive
-
have been compressingperfect progressive
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has been compressingperfect progressive
Past
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compressedsimple
-
had compressedperfect
-
was compressingprogressive
-
were compressingprogressive
-
had been compressingperfect progressive
Future
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.
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.
Vocabulary lists containing compress
100 Great Words from "Fahrenheit 451" -- Part I Vocabulary
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Vocabulary Video Contest (2013) - List 1
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The Thing About Jellyfish
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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:
This caused the Treasury yield curve — the gap between short- and long-dated yields — to compress dramatically.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 3, 2026
These mathematical structures compress the information contained in a wave function so that it can be handled more efficiently.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 20, 2026
They also installed advanced sensors that can detect movement up to one-billionth of a meter by using fiber optic cables that can extend or compress if any ground deformation occurs.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 14, 2026
Using AI to compress drug discovery from years to as little as nine months, it is developing products catering to the local market but that are more novel than what homegrown firms can offer.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 26, 2026
She used the salve as a paste to compress the wadded seaweed against the wound.
From "Son" by Lois Lowry
High pressure causes colder air to sink in the atmosphere, where it compresses, warms up and dries out.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 20, 2026
This capability compresses the timeline between discovery and exploitation, placing immense pressure on organizations to fix vulnerabilities before attackers act.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 10, 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
"J1007+3540 is one of the clearest and most spectacular examples of episodic AGN with jet-cluster interaction, where the surrounding hot gas bends, compresses, and distorts the jets," Dr. Pal explained.
From Science Daily ● Apr. 13, 2026
She could create compresses to draw out the poison in snake bites.
From "Root Magic" by Eden Royce
Almost every commercial aircraft flying today uses the so-called bleed air system that draws compressed, unfiltered air directly from the engine into the aircraft.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 17, 2026
He noted that the nation's "intensely compressed" industrialisation happened in just a few decades, while it took centuries in many Western countries.
From Barron's ● Sep. 14, 2026
Palantir’s current valuation level has already compressed significantly from its late-2025 peak of over 230 times forward earnings.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 2, 2026
The space is shallow and compressed, like a theater set, and details are few and deliberate.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 25, 2026
Low-mass black holes could form only if matter was compressed to enormous densities by very large external pressures.
From "A Brief History of Time: And Other Essays" by Stephen Hawking
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
They have rarely had to contend with those signals arriving in seconds, compressing the space between diplomatic gesture and market consequence to near zero.
From Barron's ● Apr. 18, 2026
Transformer supply could normalize if manufacturing capacity expands, compressing margins for equipment suppliers.
From MarketWatch ● Apr. 8, 2026
The family was shrinking, the old hierarchy compressing.
From "Educated" by Tara Westover
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.
