compress

UK: verb: /kəmˈprɛs/, noun: /ˈkɒmprɛs/

US: /v. kəmˈprɛs; n. ˈkɑmprɛs/

US: (v. kəm pres′; n. kom′pres)

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2025

com•press /v. kəmˈprɛs; n. ˈkɑmprɛs/   v. [~ + object]

1. to press or squeeze together;
   force into less space:
   The fuel mixture is compressed in the chamber by the piston.
2. to condense, shorten, or abbreviate:
   She compressed a one-hour lecture into a twenty-minute talk.

n. [countable]

3. Medicine a soft pad held on the body to provide pressure or to supply moisture, cold, heat, or medication.

com•press•i•bil•i•ty /kəmˌprɛsəˈbɪlɪti/  n. [uncountable]
com•press•i•ble, adj. See -press-.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025

com•press  (v. kəm pres′;n. kom′pres), v.t. 

1. to press together;
   force into less space.
2. to cause to become a solid mass:
   to compress cotton into bales.
3. to condense, shorten, or abbreviate:
   The book was compressed by 50 pages.

n. 

4. Medicine a soft, cloth pad held in place by a bandage and used to provide pressure or to supply moisture, cold, heat, or medication.
5. an apparatus for compressing cotton bales.
6. a warehouse for storing cotton bales before shipment.

• Middle French compresse, noun, nominal derivative of the verb, verbal
• Late Latin compressāre, frequentative of Latin comprimere to squeeze together (see com-, press¹); (noun, nominal)
• Middle French compresser)
• (verb, verbal) Middle English (1350–1400

com•press′i•ble, adj. 
com•press′i•bly, adv. 
com•press′ing•ly, adv. 
Synonyms

• 1. condense, squeeze, constrict. See contract. 

Antonyms

• 1. expand, spread.

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

compress verb / kəmˈprɛs/

1. (transitive) to squeeze together or compact into less space; condense
2. to apply a compression program to (electronic data) so that it takes up less space

noun / ˈkɒmprɛs/

1. 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

Etymology: 14th Century: from Late Latin compressāre, from Latin comprimere, from premere to press

comˈpressible adjective