compress
Americanverb (used with object)
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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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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
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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
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compresssimple
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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
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have been compressingperfect progressive
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has been compressingperfect progressive
Past
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compressedsimple
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had compressedperfect
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was compressingprogressive
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were compressingprogressive
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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:
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
"At altitude, high pressure systems exert pressure on this warm air mass, and when we compress a warm air mass, we actually make it even hotter."
From Barron's ● Jun. 23, 2026
Because you could die so quickly, each man carried at least one large compress bandage, usually in the helmet band for easy access.
From "The Things They Carried" by Tim O'Brien
In “The Shift,” she compresses the challenge of an entire profession into a single 12-hour shift on a hospital cancer ward.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 21, 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
TurboQuant compresses the KV cache — the temporary memory storing mid-conversation computations.
From MarketWatch ● Apr. 6, 2026
She could create compresses to draw out the poison in snake bites.
From "Root Magic" by Eden Royce
In the second quarter, Charlotte, N.C.-based Truist Financial’s net interest margin compressed by 0.04 percentage points from a year prior.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 27, 2026
The team found that the tin telluride film is compressed by the underlying substrate, creating strain that is essential for stabilizing the material's topological state.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 11, 2026
Maine Democrats now face a more immediate problem: naming a nominee by late July through a compressed state party process.
From Barron's ● Jul. 9, 2026
Underneath the high pressure system sinking air compressed and warmed, lifting temperatures day by day.
From BBC ● Jun. 27, 2026
She did not know how long she walked — time seemed to be compressed, as it was when she had walked to Rook Hill.
From "Ash" by Malinda Lo
This weather pattern results in air sinking downwards, compressing and heating up as it hits the ground.
From BBC ● Jul. 16, 2026
Fusion requires heating and compressing nuclear fuel to make superheated plasma in which atomic nuclei combine, releasing energy.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 9, 2026
While the force between individual atoms is weak, it becomes remarkably strong across the large surface area of two dimensional materials, pulling the sheets together and compressing the water trapped between them.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 2, 2026
A ramjet External link uses an aircraft’s speed to “ram” air into the engine, compressing it in the process.
From Barron's ● May 19, 2026
He can feel the lymph nodes on either side of his neck compressing his esophagus and trachea.
From "All the Light We Cannot See" by Anthony Doerr
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.
