Etymology 1

From compressen, from Late compressare 'to press hard/together', from compressus, the past participle of comprimere 'to compress', itself from com- 'together' + premere 'to press'

Verb

1. To make smaller; to press or squeeze together, or to make something occupy a smaller space or volume.

   The force required to compress a spring varies linearly with the displacement.

2. To be pressed together or folded by compression into a more economic, easier format.

   Our new model compresses easily, ideal for storage and travel

3. To condense into a more economic, easier format.

   This chart compresses the entire audit report into a few lines on a single diagram.

4. To abridge.

   If you try to compress the entire book into a three-sentence summary, you will lose a lot of information.

5. To make digital information smaller by encoding it using fewer bits.

Synonyms

• (press together): compact, condense, pack, press, squash, squeeze
• (be pressed together): contract
• (condense, abridge): abridge, condense, shorten, truncate

Antonyms

• (press together): expand
• (be pressed together): decontract
• (condense, abridge): expand, lengthen
• (make computing data smaller): uncompress

Etymology 2

From compresse, from compresser 'to compress', from Late compressare 'to press hard/together', from compressus, the past participle of comprimere 'to compress', itself from com- 'together' + premere 'to press'

Noun

1. A multiply folded piece of cloth, a pouch of ice etc., used to apply to a patient's skin, cover the dressing of wounds, and placed with the aid of a bandage to apply pressure on an injury.

   He held a cold compress over the sprain.

2. A machine for compressing