compresses

noun

(medicine) 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.

A machine for compressing.

verb

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

(transitive) To condense into a more economic, easier format.

(computing, transitive) 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.

(physics, transitive) To make a pulse or particle bunch shorter by applying dispersion to it.

(obsolete) To embrace sexually.

Roots

premopress- · Latin · press

Synonyms & related words for compresses

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Words related to compresses

Explore words related to compresses — words associated with it, words that go with it, and its nearest matches in meaning. Related words include recompress, compressing, compressed, compressive, uncompressed, compression, compressible, constrict. Click any word to make it the center of the map and keep exploring the web of connections.

Where does compresses come from?

The word compresses breaks down into one root of Latin origin: the root press-, from Latin premo (“press”). Explore each root to see other English words built from the same source.