compress

Meanings

1. 1
   verb

   to press or squeeze something into a smaller space

   The machine compresses the rubbish into small blocks.

2. 2
   verb

   to make computer data take up less space

   You can compress the photos before emailing them.

3. 3
   verb

   to make something shorter, like a story or a piece of time

   The film compresses ten years of history into two hours.

From Middle French compresse, from compresse (“to compress”), from Late Latin compressare (“to press hard/together”), from Latin compressus, the past participle of comprimō (“to compress”), itself from com- (“together”) + premō (“press”).

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