compressed

adjective

com·​pressed kəm-ˈprest 

 also  ˈkäm-ˌprest

1

: pressed together : reduced in size or volume (as by pressure)

2

: flattened as though subjected to compression:

a

: flattened laterally

petioles compressed

b

: narrow from side to side and deep in a dorsoventral direction

compressedly

kəm-ˈprest-lē  -ˈpre-səd-lē 

adverb

Examples of compressed in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Sturm has repeatedly noted the difficulty of the compressed schedule. —Fluto Shinzawa, New York Times, 10 Oct. 2025

Li, a writer whose stories are compressed and deceptively simple, spoke with humor and a certain hardness, perhaps born of the clarity of unimaginable loss. —Literary Hub, 7 Oct. 2025

Unlike gasoline internal combustion engines that use spark plugs to ignite the compressed air and fuel mixture in the combustion chamber of each cylinder, diesel engines operate without an external spark. —New Atlas, 6 Oct. 2025

How does Obama go, in a pretty compressed number of years, from nearly an impossibility—the very act of his election seeming like a pivotal moment in the country to many people—to this by the end of his term? —David Remnick, New Yorker, 26 Sep. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing compressed

• compressed air

Rhymes for compressed

• acquiesced
• coalesced
• dispossessed
• manifest
• overdressed
• overstressed
• prepossessed
• reassessed
• reinvest
• repossessed
• unaddressed
• uncompressed