compression

 [kuhm-presh-uhn]   Example Sentences Origin

com·pres·sion

   [kuhm-presh-uhn]
noun
1.
the act of compressing.
2.
the state of being compressed.
3.
the effect, result, or consequence of being compressed.
4.
(in internal-combustion engines) the reduction in volume and increase of pressure of the air or combustible mixture in the cylinder prior to ignition, produced by the motion of the piston toward the cylinder head after intake.
5.
Also called data compression. reduction of the storage space required for data by changing its format.
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Also, com·pres·sure  [kuhm-presh-er] (for defs. 1, 2).

Origin:
1350–1400; Middle English (< Anglo-French ) < Latin compressiōn- (stem of compressiō), equivalent to compress(us) past participle of comprimere to press together (see com-, press1) + -iōn- -ion

Related forms
com·pres·sion·al, adjective
non·com·pres·sion, noun
o·ver·com·pres·sion, noun
pre·com·pres·sion, noun
su·per·com·pres·sion, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Compression is always a great word to know.
So is conformity. Does it mean:
action in accord with prevailing social standards, attitudes, practices
an officer of the peace, having police and minor judicial functions
LEARN MORE UNUSUAL WORDS WITH WORD DYNAMO...
Example Sentences
  • In my case, my salary only bumped a small amount due to issues of salary compression within the department during that discussion.
  • The researchers also warn against wearing commercial compression stockings.
  • External pressure or compression can cause inflammation in the ear, leading to increased swelling and redness.
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Collins
World English Dictionary
compression (kəmˈprɛʃən)
 
—n
1.  Also called: compressure the act of compressing or the condition of being compressed
2.  an increase in pressure of the charge in an engine or compressor obtained by reducing its volume

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History

compression
c.1400, from Fr. compression (14c.), from L. compressionem, noun of action from compress-, pp. stem of comprimere (see compress). Related: Compressional wave (1887).
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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American Heritage
Medical Dictionary

compression com·pres·sion (kəm-prěsh'ən)
n.

  1. See condensation.

  2. The state of being compressed.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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American Heritage
Science Dictionary
compression   (kəm-prěsh'ən)  Pronunciation Key 

  1. A force that tends to shorten or squeeze something, decreasing its volume.

  2. The degree to which a substance has decreased in size (in volume, length, or some other dimension) after being or while being subject to stress. See also strain.

  3. The re-encoding of data (usually the binary data used by computers) into a form that uses fewer bits of information than the original data. Compression is often used to speed the transmission of data such as text or visual images, or to minimize the memory resources needed to store such data.


The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2002. Published by Houghton Mifflin. All rights reserved.
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American Heritage
Cultural Dictionary

compression definition


See data compression.

The American Heritage® New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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FOLDOC
Computing Dictionary

compression definition


1. (Or "compaction") The coding of data to save storage space or transmission time. Although data is already coded in digital form for computer processing, it can often be coded more efficiently (using fewer bits). For example, run-length encoding replaces strings of repeated characters (or other units of data) with a single character and a count. There are many compression algorithms and utilities. Compressed data must be decompressed before it can be used.
The standard Unix compression utilty is called compress though GNU's superior gzip has largely replaced it. Other compression utilties include pack, zip and PKZIP.
When compressing several similar files, it is usually better to join the files together into an archive of some kind (using tar for example) and then compress them, rather than to join together individually compressed files. This is because some common compression algorithms build up tables based on the data from their current input which they have already compressed. They then use this table to compress subsequent data more efficiently.
See also TIFF, JPEG, MPEG, Lempel-Ziv Welch, "lossy", "lossless".
Compression FAQ (ftp://rtfm.mit.edu/pub/usenet/news.answers/compression-faq/).
Web Content Compression FAQ (http://perl.apache.org/docs/tutorials/client/compression/compression.html).
Usenet newsgroups: news:comp.compression, news:comp.compression.research.
2. Reducing the dynamic range of an audio signal, making quiet sounds louder and loud sounds quieter. Thus, when discussing digital audio, the preferred term for reducing the total amount of data is "compaction". Some advocate this term in all contexts.
(2004-04-26)

The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing, © Denis Howe 2010 http://foldoc.org
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