compressor
Americannoun
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a person or thing that compresses.
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Anatomy. a muscle that compresses some part of the body.
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Surgery. an instrument for compressing a part of the body.
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a pump or other machine for reducing volume and increasing pressure of gases in order to condense the gases, drive pneumatically powered machinery, etc.
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Electronics. a transducer that produces an output with a range of voltages whose ratio is smaller than that of the range of the input signal.
noun
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any reciprocating or rotating device that compresses a gas
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the part of a gas turbine that compresses the air before it enters the combustion chambers
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any muscle that causes compression of any part or structure
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a medical instrument for holding down a part of the body
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an electronic device for reducing the variation in signal amplitude in a transmission system Compare expander compander
Etymology
Origin of compressor
Explanation
A compressor is a type of pump that provides power by increasing the pressure on air or another gas. Most gas stations use compressors to provide air for their customers to fill their tires. Compressors are used in a wide variety of ways. Pneumatic power tools, like nail guns, have built-in compressors, as do tools used for spray-painting cars, dental instruments, and even the machinery used to make artificial snow at ski resorts. When this term was first used, around 1785, it referred to a specific surgical instrument, from the Latin root comprimere, "to squeeze."
Vocabulary lists containing compressor
Mechanical Engineering
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Civil Engineering
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List 9
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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.
Silent refrigerators and easy on/off TVs: California resident Jo Pitesky says she dreams of refrigerators that don’t wake you up at night as the compressor cycles on and off.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 1, 2026
A compressor squeezes that refrigerant, raising its temperature yet further.
From BBC • Jul. 14, 2025
It wasn’t easy: The half-ton compressor needed to drive the team’s large pneumatic drill was too heavy for their helicopter.
From Science Magazine • Dec. 2, 2024
One utility staffer said in 2020 that the plant’s compressor units had been leaking gas “for the last couple years.”
From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 22, 2024
But for the locomotive idling and a compressor cycling to feed the brakes, the night was ghostly still.
From "Enrique's Journey" by Sonia Nazario
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.
