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repress

 - 6 dictionary results

re-press

  [ree-pres]
Use repress in a Sentence
–verb (used with object), verb (used without object)
to press again or anew.
Origin:
1870–75; re- + press 1

re⋅press

  [ri-pres]
–verb (used with object)
1. to keep under control, check, or suppress (desires, feelings, actions, tears, etc.).
2. to keep down or suppress (anything objectionable).
3. to put down or quell (sedition, disorder, etc.).
4. to reduce (persons) to subjection.
5. Psychoanalysis. to reject (painful or disagreeable ideas, memories, feelings, or impulses) from the conscious mind.
–verb (used without object)
6. to initiate or undergo repression.
Origin:
1325–75; ME repressen < L repressus (ptp. of reprimere), equiv. to re- re- + pressus, ptp. of primere to press 1

Related forms:
re⋅press⋅i⋅ble, adjective

Synonyms:
1. bridle, control. See check. 3. subdue, quash. 4. crush.

Antonyms:
1–4. foster.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To repress
re·press   (rĭ-prěs')   
v.   re·pressed, re·press·ing, re·press·es

v.   tr.

  1. To hold back by an act of volition: couldn't repress a smirk.

  2. To put down by force, usually before total control has been lost; quell: repress a rebellion.

  3. Psychology To exclude (painful or disturbing memories, for example) automatically or unconsciously from the conscious mind.

  4. Biology To block (transcription of a gene) by combination of a protein to an operator gene.

v.   intr.
To take repressive action.

[Middle English repressen, from Latin reprimere, repress- : re-, re- + premere, to press; see per-4 in Indo-European roots.]
re·press'i·bil'i·ty n., re·press'i·ble adj.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

repress 
c.1374, "to check, restrain," from L. repressus, pp. of reprimere "hold back, check," from re- "back" + premere "to push" (see press (v.1)). Used of feelings or desires from 1390; in the purely psychological sense, it represents Ger. verdrängen (Freud, 1893), first attested 1904 (implied in repressed). Meaning "to put down" (a rebellion, etc.) is from 1471.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Medical Dictionary

Main Entry: re·press
Pronunciation: ri-'pres
Function: transitive verb
1 : to exclude from consciousness <repress conflicts>
2 : to inactivate (a gene or formation of a gene product) by allosteric combination at a DNA binding site
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
Cite This Source
Medical Dictionary

repress re·press (rĭ-prěs')
v. re·pressed, re·press·ing, re·press·es

  1. To hold back by an act of volition.

  2. To exclude something from the conscious mind.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Cite This Source
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