compressed
Americanadjective
-
pressed into less space; condensed.
compressed gases.
- Antonyms:
- expanded
-
pressed together.
compressed lips.
-
flattened by or as if by pressure.
compressed wallboard.
-
Zoology, Botany. flattened laterally.
adjective
-
squeezed together or condensed
-
(of the form of flatfishes, certain plant parts, etc) flattened laterally along the whole length
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of compressed
Middle English word dating back to 1325–75; see origin at compress, -ed 2
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.
Before Arendt became the great thinker of statelessness, bureaucracy had compressed her into these terms.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 7, 2026
In this process, fine WC and Co powders are compressed under high pressure and heated in sintering machines.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 4, 2026
“A shorter timeline would be artificially compressed and risks depriving this Court of a full record on which to decide this $110 billion case.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 31, 2026
It becomes a little compressed, a little messier and somehow more itself.
From Salon ● Jul. 30, 2026
There was a crushing in his chest, as if he were being compressed under an opera house—and then suddenly he was in deep rushing water.
From "Impossible Creatures" by Katherine Rundell
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.
