compress
verb · noun
Simple meaning
Make more compact by or as if by pressing.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
kahmpresSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈkɑmpɹɛs
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
verb
Make more compact by or as if by pressing
transitive
To make smaller; to press or squeeze together, or to make something occupy a smaller space or volume.
computingtransitive
To make digital information smaller by encoding it using fewer bits.
intransitive
To be pressed together or folded by compression into a more economic, easier format.
transitive
To abridge.
noun
A machine for compressing.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- C1 · Advanced
- Frequency
- Moderately Common
- Typical Use
- Neutral / general English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: Make more compact by or as if by pressing
Used this way, compress is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- No strong connotation
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Nearby words
- pack together , rarer, so it draws attention
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Inflected forms
Grammatical variations of the same word.
Applying pressure.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
Air at a pressure greater than that of the atmosphere.
Gas at a high pressure that can be used as a propellant.
Related words
Connected by subject or meaning, not by word formation.
A mechanical device that compresses gasses.
Capable of being compressed or made more compact.
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
Synonyms
Sense: make more compact by or as if by pressing
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.