| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000. |
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| compress |
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| SYLLABICATION: | com·press |
| PRONUNCIATION: |  k m-pr s |
| TRANSITIVE VERB: | Inflected forms: com·pressed, com·press·ing, com·press·es
1. To press together: compressed her lips. 2. To make more compact by or as if by pressing. 3. Computer Science To transform (data) to minimize the space required for storage or transmission: compressed the file so that it could be downloaded efficiently. | | NOUN: | (k mprs )1. 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. 2. A machine for compressing material. | | ETYMOLOGY: | Middle English compressen, from Old French compresser, from Late Latin compress re, frequentative of Latin comprimere : com-, com- + premere, to press; see per-4 in Appendix I.
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| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by the Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. |
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