Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- transitive verb To press together.
- transitive verb To make more compact by or as if by pressing.
- transitive verb Computers To encode (data) to minimize the space required for storage or transmittal.
- noun Medicine A soft pad of gauze or other material applied with pressure to a part of the body to control hemorrhage or to supply heat, cold, moisture, or medication to alleviate pain or reduce infection.
- noun A machine for compressing material.
from The Century Dictionary.
- To press or pack together; force or drive into a smaller compass or closer relation; condense.
- To embrace sexually.
- Synonyms To crowd, squeeze.
- noun In surgery, a soft mass formed of tow, lint, or soft linen cloth, so contrived as by the aid of a bandage to make due pressure on any part.
- noun In hydropathic practice, a wet cloth applied to the surface of a diseased part, and covered with a layer or bandage of dry cloth or oiled cloth.
- noun An apparatus in which bales of cotton, etc., are pressed into the smallest possible compass for stowage.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun (Surg.) A folded piece of cloth, pledget of lint, etc., used to cover the dressing of wounds, and so placed as, by the aid of a bandage, to make due pressure on any part.
- transitive verb To press or squeeze together; to force into a narrower compass; to reduce the volume of by pressure; to compact; to condense.
- transitive verb obsolete To embrace sexually.
- transitive verb (Computers) to reduce the space required for storage (of binary data) by an algorithm which converts the data to a smaller number of bits while preserving the information content. The compressed data is usually decompressed to recover the initial data format before subsequent use.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun A multiply folded piece of
cloth , apouch ofice etc., used to apply to a patient's skin, cover the dressing of wounds, and placed with the aid of abandage to applypressure on an injury. - noun A machine for
compressing - verb transitive To make smaller; to
press orsqueeze together, or to make something occupy a smaller space or volume. - verb intransitive To be pressed together or
folded bycompression into a more economic, easier format. - verb transitive To
condense into a more economic, easier format. - verb transitive To
abridge . - verb technology (
transitive ) To make digital information smaller byencoding it using fewerbits .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- verb make more compact by or as if by pressing
- verb squeeze or press together
- noun a cloth pad or dressing (with or without medication) applied firmly to some part of the body (to relieve discomfort or reduce fever)
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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For your herbal enlightenment, the cloth dipped into the strained-tea infusion is called a compress; with the steeped flowers, it becomes a poultice.
Gentle Healing for Baby and Child Andrea Candee 2000
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Instead, soak a compress in vinegar and press (don't rub) it against the sting.
unknown title 2009
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Because high-def signals are exceedingly more plump than standard TV signals and hog the capacity of their pipelines, cable - and satellite-TV operators "compress," or squeeze, them (broadcasters don't have to).
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I often notice wheelchair-users in photographs trying to "compress" themselves and look invisible--getting other people to stand in front of them, around them, etc.
Updated: ADAPT action in Chicago Kay Olson 2007
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But it's really -- it takes a while to sit there and just kind of compress the air.
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Because high-def signals are exceedingly more plump than standard TV signals and hog the capacity of their pipelines, cable - and satellite-TV operators "compress," or squeeze, them (broadcasters don't have to).
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For a stereo stream, not only do you not have to "compress" audio, but you can run well beyond 44.1/16-bit. plenty of 24-bit, 96k devices, for instance.
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Proulx once acknowledged that she tends to "compress" too much into short stories, but her wordplay is just as relentless in her novels; she seems unaware that all innovative language derives its impact from the contrast to straightforward English.
A Reader's Manifesto 2001
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Proulx once acknowledged that she tends to "compress" too much into short stories, but her wordplay is just as relentless in her novels; she seems unaware that all innovative language derives its impact from the contrast to straightforward English.
A Reader's Manifesto 2001
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a very cold wet compress, which is next completely covered by silk, gutta-percha, mackintosh, or many thicknesses of newspaper -- anything that will hold all the heat in -- as the cold compress is quickly heated up.
The Mother and Her Child William S. Sadler
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