compress
Other forms: compressed; compressing; compresses
The noun compress refers to a pad that's held to your body to reduce pain or symptoms of illness. A washcloth dipped in cold water and pressed onto your forehead to help you cool down is a type of compress.
As a verb, compress means to squeeze together with a fair amount of pressure. When you compress a sponge to get all the water out, you press it between your palms or squish it between your fingers. Compress can also mean to make something more compact — as with the sponge, when you compress an object it gets smaller. You could even compress a speech by cutting it down into a shorter but equally effective version.
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squeeze or press together“she compressed her lips”
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make more compact by or as if by pressing“compress the data”synonyms: compact, pack together
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Vocabulary lists containing compress
These 100 words were plucked from Ray Bradbury's dystopian novel ''Fahrenheit 451,'' published in 1953. Find more Summer Reading Vocabulary Lists here.
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In this novel, a seventh grader struggles to come to terms with the drowning death of her best friend.