suppress

[suh-pres]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR suppress ON THESAURUS.COM

verb (used with object)

to put an end to the activities of (a person, body of persons, etc.): to suppress the Communist and certain left-leaning parties.

to do away with by or as by authority; abolish; stop (a practice, custom, etc.).

to keep in or repress (a feeling, smile, groan, etc.).

to withhold from disclosure or publication (truth, evidence, a book, names, etc.).

to stop or arrest (a flow, hemorrhage, cough, etc.).

to vanquish or subdue (a revolt, rebellion, etc.); quell; crush.

Electricity. to reduce or eliminate (an irregular or undesired oscillation or frequency) in a circuit.

Origin of suppress

1375–1425; late Middle English suppressen < Latin suppressus (past participle of supprimere to press down), equivalent to sup- sup- + pressus (see press¹)

Related formssup·pressed·ly

[suh-prest-lee, -pres-id-] /səˈprɛst li, -ˈprɛs ɪd-/, adverbsup·press·i·ble, adjectivesup·pres·sive, adjectivesup·pres·sive·ly, adverbsup·pres·sor, sup·press·er, nounnon·sup·pressed, adjectivenon·sup·pres·sive, adjectivenon·sup·pres·sive·ly, adverbnon·sup·pres·sive·ness, nounpre·sup·press, verb (used with object)qua·si-sup·pressed, adjectivere·sup·press, verb (used with object)self-sup·press·ing, adjectiveself-sup·pres·sive, adjectiveun·sup·pressed, adjectiveun·sup·press·i·ble, adjectiveun·sup·pres·sive, adjectivewell-sup·pressed, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for suppressing

subdue, quench, censor, curb, repress, muzzle, abolish, crush, quash, overthrow, overcome, quell, stifle, conceal, withhold, contain, silence, clamp, annihilate, muffle

Examples from the Web for suppressing

Contemporary Examples of suppressing

A secular police state well practiced in suppressing internal challenges.
Fact-Checking the Sunday Shows: Dec. 14
PunditFact.com
December 14, 2014
Instead of suppressing turnout, the law seemed to spur people to go to the polls.
Cleveland, LeBron James, and the 2016 Republican Convention
Lloyd Green
July 14, 2014
Plus, he crafted the Lyons-Seward Treaty, joining the U.S and Great Britain in suppressing the international slave trade.
P.J. O’Rourke: Orwell Was Right
P. J. O’Rourke
March 28, 2014
He was squeezing and suppressing the rights of women and causing heartburn among non-Muslims.
Leslie H. Gelb on the Democracy-Elections Trap in Egypt
Leslie H. Gelb
July 22, 2013
Suppressing the truth will leave to deadly consequences for you and your family.
Rogue L.A. Cop’s Facebook Manifesto: ‘You Will Now Live the Life of Prey’
The Daily Beast
February 8, 2013

Historical Examples of suppressing

He did not dare express all his rancour, while he was unequal to suppressing it entirely.
Homeward Bound
James Fenimore Cooper
He hurried from the inn, suppressing his sobs for a moment with one grand effort.
Cleo The Magnificent
Louis Zangwill
The captain, suppressing his emotions, hastily counted the money.
Shavings
Joseph C. Lincoln
"Ah, I see," said the Procurator General, suppressing a366 smile.
The Eternal City
Hall Caine
Need I suggest what was the need—the urgent need—for suppressing that wrapper?
Mistress Wilding
Rafael Sabatini

British Dictionary definitions for suppressing

suppress

verb (tr)

to put an end to; prohibit

to hold in check; restrainI was obliged to suppress a smile

to withhold from circulation or publicationto suppress seditious pamphlets

to stop the activities of; crushto suppress a rebellion

electronics

to reduce or eliminate (unwanted oscillations) in a circuit
to eliminate (a particular frequency or group of frequencies) in a signal

psychiatry

to resist consciously (an idea or a desire entering one's mind)
to exercise self-control by preventing the expression of (certain desires)Compare repress (def. 3)

Derived Formssuppresser, nounsuppressible, adjective

Word Origin for suppress

C14: from Latin suppressus held down, from supprimere to restrain, from sub- down + premere to press

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for suppressing

suppress

late 14c., "to put down by force or authority," from Latin suppressus, past participle of supprimere "press down, stop, check, stifle," from sub "down, under" (see sub-) + premere "push against" (see press (v.1)). Sense of "prevent or prohibit the circulation of" is from 1550s. Related: Suppressed; suppressing.

suppressing in Medicine

suppress

[sə-prĕs′]

v.

To curtail or inhibit the activity of something, such as the immune system.

To deliberately exclude unacceptable desires or thoughts from the mind.

To reduce the incidence or severity of a condition or symptom, such as a hemorrhage.