| / English Dictionary |
COMPRESSED
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
I. (adjective)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Reduced in volume by pressure
Example:
compressed air
Classified under:
Similar:
compressible (capable of being compressed or made more compact)
Sense 2
Meaning:
Pressed tightly together
Example:
with lips compressed
Synonyms:
compressed; tight
Classified under:
Similar:
closed; shut (used especially of mouth or eyes)
Sense 3
Meaning:
Flattened laterally along the whole length (e.g., certain leafstalks or flatfishes)
Synonyms:
compressed; flat
Classified under:
Adjectives
Similar:
thin (of relatively small extent from one surface to the opposite or in cross section)
Domain category:
biological science; biology (the science that studies living organisms)
II. (verb)
Sense 1
Past simple / past participle of the verb compress
Context examples:
No physical pain that her father's grey head could have borne, I think, could have been more terrible to me, than the mental endurance I saw compressed now within both his hands.
(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)
Single ladies must live, and their passbooks are compressed diaries.
(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
A region of compressed stem tissue from which new shoots are produced, generally found near the surface of the soil where the root of a seed plant joins the stem.
(Crown, Food and Drug Administration)
Sometimes, thickening from irritated tendons or other swelling narrows the tunnel and causes the nerve to be compressed.
(Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, NIH: National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke)
A type of graph similar to a radial layout, but compressed to fit rapidly-branching networks.
(Graph Combinatorial Layout, NCI Thesaurus)
A solid composed of active ingredient(s), excipients (usually electrolytes and bulking agents), and a solvent system which are lyophilized to yield a compressed solid with uniform ingredient distribution.
(Cake Dosage Form, NCI Thesaurus)
A cryoprobe is cooled with substances such as liquid nitrogen, liquid nitrous oxide, or compressed argon gas.
(Cryoablation, NCI Dictionary)
A highly elastic protein found throughout the body, elastin allows blood vessels and organs—like the skin, uterus and lungs—to return to their original shape after being stretched or compressed.
(Biomaterial Artificial Protein Helps Heal Tissue, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)
A heavy swivel-hook, baited with fat salt-pork, was dropped overside; and by the time I had compressed the severed veins and arteries, the sailors were singing and heaving in the offending monster.
(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)
As the gleam of the street-lamps flashed upon his austere features, I saw that his brows were drawn down in thought and his thin lips compressed.
(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
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