▪ I. † reˈpress, n. Obs.
[f. the vb.]
Repression.
| c 1440 Gesta Rom. xv. 51 (Add. MS.), Here housbond and she helde hym in so grete vyolete [? read vylete] and represse. Ibid. lxi. 378 Wenyng that they were comyn in represse of Cristen feithe. 1533–4 Act 25 Hen. VIII, c. 14 For the represse of heretikes, and such erronious opinions in tyme cominge, be it established [etc.]. 1586 J. Hooker Hist. Irel. in Holinshed II. 153/1 A reasonable and a vsed cesse was to be set and leuied..for the represse of their enimies. |
▪ II. repress, v.1
(rɪˈprɛs)
[f. L. repress-, ppl. stem of reprimĕre: see re- and press v., and cf. repreme and reprime.]
1. a. trans. To check, restrain, put down or keep under (something bad or objectionable).
| c 1374 Chaucer Troylus iii. 1033 Whanne cause is & somme swych fantasye With pite so wel repressed is That it vnneþe doth or seyth amys. 14.. in Tundale's Vis., etc. (1843) 93 The fyre hit quencheth also of envy And represseth the bolnyng eke of pryde. c 1430 Lydg. Min. Poems (Percy Soc.) 70 O loode-sterre of al goode governaunce! Alle vicious lustes by wisdom to represse. 1526 Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 44 Whiche vertue represseth the sensuall appetyte. 1553 T. Wilson Rhet. 14 To represse this rage..God hath lightened man with knowledge. 1596 Lodge Marg. Amer. 15 Thy nying grave remember, Which if thou dost, thy pride shall be repressed. 1626 T. H[awkins] Caussin's Holy Crt. 337 Chastity, is a uertue, which represseth the impure lusts of the flesh. 1709 Pope Ess. Crit. 682 Thus long succeeding Critics justly reign'd, Licence repress'd, and useful laws ordain'd. 1751 Johnson Rambler No. 159 ¶10 [When] this troublesome instinct..instead of repressing petulance and temerity, silences eloquence. 1774 Goldsm. Nat. Hist. (1776) I. 363 Those terrible tempests that deform the face of nature, and repress human presumption. 1817 Shelley Rev. Islam iv. xxii, While o'er the land is borne Her voice, whose awful sweetness doth repress All evil. 1849 Macaulay Hist. Eng. vi. II. 89 He was authorised by law to repress spiritual abuses. 1875 Jowett Plato (ed. 2) V. 155 Let there be a general law which will have a tendency to repress actions of impiety. |
b. To check by some special treatment; to make less troublesome; to cure, stanch.
| 1493 Petronilla 48 (Pynson), Ye alas hir langoure to represse Lyst nat onys byd hir arise. 1601 Holland Pliny II. Index, Hungrie worme in the stomacke, how to be repressed and cured. 1622 Drayton Poly-olb. xiv. 176 When in her pride..she nourish'd goodly vines, And oft her cares represt with her delicious wines. 1715 Pope Iliad i. 612 When now the rage of hunger was represt. 1805 W. Saunders Min. Waters 34 A few drops of strong nitrous acid, poured into this hepatic water, at once represses the offensive smell. 1807–26 S. Cooper First Lines Surg. (ed. 5) 360 The bleeding may be repressed by means of a piece of fine sponge. |
2. a. To check or withstand (some passion, feeling, etc.) in another by opposition or control.
| c 1385 Chaucer L.G.W. 2591 Hypermnestra, His maleyce is hym be-raft; Repressid hath Venus his crewel craft. 1430–40 Lydg. Bochas viii. xvii. (1558) 11 b, Chastice tyrantes and their malice represse. 1555 Eden Decades 20 He went aboute to represse theyr outragiousenes. 1560 J. Daus tr. Sleidane's Comm. 4 He of a fatherly love desyrous to represse his rashenes. 1603 Knolles Hist. Turks (1638) To Rdr., They might long since..haue repressed his fury, and abated his pride. 1660 R. Coke Power & Subj. 146 To repress their insolence, the yearly return of Danegelt was enacted. 1678 Wanley Wond. Lit. World v. ii. §17. 469/2 Tiberius..repressed the daring boldness of the proud Persian Cosroes. 1828 D'Israeli Chas. I, II. viii. 185 While this minister lived, he repressed the dark passions of Tiberius. 1856 Froude Hist. Eng. I. i. 66 This vigorous arming to repress the self-seeking tendencies in the mercantile classes. |
b. To keep or hold back, to restrain or check (a person) from action or advance.
| 1638 Junius Paint. Ancients 103 He did represse the one..and he did prick on the other. 1726–46 Thomson Winter 979 Armies stretch Each way their dazzling files, repressing here The frantic Alexander of the north. 1819 Shelley Prometh. Unb. i. i. 328 Who are those with hydra tresses..Whom the frowning God represses..? 1823 Lamb Elia Ser. ii. Poor Relations, He may require to be repressed sometimes..—but there is no raising her. 1865 Kingsley Herew. vi, The men, mistaking his intent, had to be represt again by Hereward. |
3. a. To keep down, suppress (one's desires, feelings, etc.), to keep under control; to restrain, refrain from (an action).
| 1390 Gower Conf. III. 166 He scholde his vanite represse With suche wordes as he herde. a 1556 Cranmer Wks. (Parker Soc.) I. 34 In all matters of our christian faith..we must repress our imaginations. 1583 Golding Calvin on Deut. xvii. 97 Wee must bee earnest in repressing our desires, and in bridling them. 1621 Burton Anat. Mel. i. ii. iii. iii, They..are so far from repressing rebellious inclinations, that they giue all encouragement vnto them. 1671 Milton Samson 543 Desire of wine..Thou couldst repress. 1716 Pope Iliad viii. 573 The prudent goddess yet her wrath repress'd. 1719 Young Busiris iv. i, Turn, turn, blasphemer, and repress thy taunts. 1748 Johnson Van. Hum. Wishes 95 Our supple tribes repress their patriot throats. 1810 Scott Lady of L. ii. xii, The ancient bard his glee repress'd. 1823 ― Peveril xlix, The Countess,..unable to repress her curiosity, placed herself near Fenella. 1865 Trollope Belton Est. i, It was her duty to repress both the feeling of shame and the sorrow. |
b. refl. To contain (oneself) from speaking.
| 1876 T. Hardy Ethelberta (1890) 335 Mrs. Doncastle seemed inclined to make no remark..and at last Menlove could repress herself no longer. |
c. Psychol. [tr. G. verdrängen (used in this sense by Breuer & Freud 1893, in Neurol. Centralbl. XII. 10).] In Psychoanalysis, of a patient or person who is the object of study: to keep out of the conscious mind, or suppress into the unconscious (unacceptable memories or desires). Also absol.
| 1909 A. A. Brill tr. Freud's Sel. Papers on Hysteria i. 7 The patient has not reacted to psychic traumas because the nature of the trauma..concerned things which the patient wished to forget and which he therefore intentionally inhibited and repressed from the conscious memory. 1919 M. K. Bradby Psycho-Analysis iii. vii. 82 He believes the unconscious to be exclusively composed of contents repressed from the conscious. 1920 Discovery Mar. 69/2 The motive for repression is one's personal comfort. One represses to preserve one's peace of mind. 1943 J. S. Huxley Evolutionary Ethics ii. 15 The impulses whose thwarting generated the guilty hate may themselves become coloured with guilt, or be repressed. 1977 R. A. Baron et al. Psychol. x. 337 This unconscious mechanism can begin to create new problems... The individual loses some control over the situation when he represses his awareness of it. |
4. a. To reduce (troublesome persons) to subjection or quietness; to put down by force, suppress; † to subdue (a town).
| 1390 Gower Conf. III. 197 God schal hise foomen so represse, That thei schul ay stonde under foote. 1413 Pilgr. Sowle (Caxton 1483) iv. xxx. 78 They haue comaundement for to repressen aduersaryes and enemyes that besyen them to destroyen the countrey. c 1460 Fortescue Abs. & Lim. Mon. vii. (1885) 125 The Kynge shall often tymes sende his comissioners..to represse and punysh riatours and risers. 1533 More Apol. xii. Wks. 870/2, I woulde wyshe the spiritualtye and temporaltye..to represse and keepe vnder those euyll and vngracious folke. 1582 Stanyhurst æneis ii. (Arb.) 61 This was Prince Priamus last ende and desteny final, Who saw thee Troians vanquisht, thee cittye repressed. 1605–6 Act 3 Jas. I, c. 4 (title) An Acte for the better discovery and repressing Popish Recusants. 1769 De Foe's Tour Gt. Brit. (ed. 7) III. 55 Dunstable..was..rebuilt by Henry I. to repress a vast Number of Robbers which infested the Country. a 1862 Buckle Civiliz. (1873) III. i. 20 It would have been a hopeless undertaking for any king to try to repress such powerful subjects. |
b. To put down, quell (a rebellion, riot, etc.).
| 1475 Rolls of Parlt. VI. 144/2 Which Troubles, Commotions, and other offenses above named..been nowe repressed. 1533 Bellenden Livy ii. xxvi. (S.T.S.) I. 236 The sedition rising be mocioun of þe law foresade was suddanlie repressit be þir novellis. 1603 Knolles Hist. Turks (1621) 255 Amurath to represse this..rebellion sent Bajazet Bassa..with a strong armie into Europe. 1858 Froude Hist. Eng. III. xiii. 107 The duty of repressing riots..in England lay with the nobility in their several districts. 1874 Green Short Hist. v. §4. 244 The royal commissioners sent to repress the tumult were driven from the field. |
† c. To suppress (a book). Obs. rare.
In first quot. intended also for re-press = reprint.
| 1615 Band, Ruffe & C. (Halliw.) 7 Thus to please both, and grant them their request, My sentence is—the booke shall be represt. c 1645 Howell Lett. (1650) II. 2 You shall do well to repress any more copies of the satyr. |
5. To keep under, check, curb, prevent from natural development, manifestation, etc.
| c 1557 Abp. Parker Ps. xxxviii. 106 There is no helth in all my flesh, Thy wrath my wealth doth so represse. c 1620 A. Hume Brit. Tongue (1865) 3 Among quhom James the first,..houbeit repressed be the iniquitie of the tyme, deserved noe smal praise. 1750 Gray Elegy 51 Chill Penury repress'd their noble rage. 1796 H. Hunter tr. St.-Pierre's Stud. Nat. (1799) I. 384 An unnatural constraint is used to repress a period of life all fire and activity. 1830 J. W. Croker in C. Papers (1884) II. xv. 83 The essential spirit of opposition was so strong that it often repressed or fettered those sentiments. a 1862 Buckle Civiliz. (1873) III. iv. 269 The fairest and most endearing parts of our nature being constantly repressed, ceased to bear fruit. |
† 6. In lit. use: To force or drive back. Obs.
| 1623 Bingham Xenophon 89 Some of the light-armed of the enemy ran forth..; which quickly were repressed by our Archers & Peltasts. 1662 Hobbes Seven Prob. ii. (1682) 12 If two bodies cast off the Air, the motion of that Air will be respress'd both ways, and diverted into a course towards the Poles on both sides. |
▪ III. reˈpress, v.2
(riː-)
[re- 5 a.]
To press again.
| 1875 Knight Dict. Mech. 1918/2 A machine for repressing brick after being partially dried. Ibid. 1919/2 The repressing press may be of any suitable form and construction. 1892 in Lee Hist. Columbus II. 539 Finely ground clays, pressed with heavy presses and repressed into uniform shape and compactness. |