compress

(kəm-prĕs')
tr.v., -pressed, -press·ing, -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.

n. (kŏm'prĕs')

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.

[Middle English compressen, from Old French compresser, from Late Latin compressāre, frequentative of Latin comprimere : com-, com- + premere, to press.]

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(1) To compact data to save space. See data compression and archive program.

(2) A Unix utility used to compress files. This is the perfect example of poor technical naming. When a common name is used to name a function, it becomes tedious to document the process. For example, "use gzip to compress the file instead of compress because..." See archive formats, tar, gzip and data compression.

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verb

1. To subject to compression: compact, constrict, constringe, squeeze. See tighten/loosen.
2. To reduce in size, as by drawing together: compact, constrict, constringe, contract, shrink. See increase/decrease.

v

Definition: compact, condense
Antonyms: blow up, expand, extend, fill, increase, loosen, stretch, uncompress, uncondense

[Unix] When used without a qualifier, generally refers to crunching of a file using a particular C implementation of compression by Joseph M. Orost et al.: and widely circulated via Usenet; use of crunch itself in this sense is rare among Unix hackers. Specifically, compress is built around the Lempel-Ziv-Welch algorithm as described in “A Technique for High Performance Data Compression”, Terry A. Welch, IEEE Computer, vol. 17, no. 6 (June 1984), pp. 8--19.

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In medicine, a firm bandage that may hold an ice-pad or heat-pad against an injured area.

A square of gauze or similar dressing, for application of pressure or medication to a restricted area, or for local applications of heat or cold.

For a list of words related to compress, see:

• Dressings and Supports - compress: moistened pad of folded cloth, often medicated, applied with heat, cold, or pressure to soothe body part
• Fabrication and Manufacturing Processes - compress: (vb) flatten, change shape by pressure

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See words rhyming with "compress."

  See crossword solutions for the clue Compress.

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Dansk (Danish)
v. tr. - komprimere, sammentrænge
n. - kompres, omslag

Nederlands (Dutch)
kompres, katoenbaalmachine, samenpersen, comprimeren

Français (French)
v. tr. - comprimer, pincer (les lèvres), (fig) condenser, réduire
n. - compresse

Deutsch (German)
v. - komprimieren, zusammenpressen
n. - Kompresse

Ελληνική (Greek)
v. - συμπιέζω/-ομαι, συνθλίβω/-ομαι, πατικώνω/-ομαι
n. - (ιατρ.) επίθεμα, κομπρέσα

Italiano (Italian)
comprimere, compressa

Português (Portuguese)
v. - comprimir, resumir
n. - compressa (f)

Русский (Russian)
сжимать, компресс

Español (Spanish)
v. tr. - comprimir, condensar
n. - compresa

Svenska (Swedish)
v. - pressa ihop, komprimera, tränga ihop/samman
n. - kompress

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
压缩, 摘要叙述, 湿敷布, 打包机

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
v. tr. - 壓縮, 摘要敘述
n. - 濕敷布, 打包機

한국어 (Korean)
v. tr. - 압축하다, 요약하다
n. - 압박붕대, 압착기계

日本語 (Japanese)
v. - 圧縮する, 圧縮して詰める, 要約する
n. - 湿布

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(فعل) ضغط, كبس, ركز (الاسم) كمادة ( قطعه قماش لمنع النزيف مثلا)‏

עברית (Hebrew)
v. tr. - ‮רטייה, תחבושת‬
n. - ‮דחס, תמצת, כיווץ‬

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