compressed, ppl. a.
(kəmˈprɛst)
[f. compress v. + -ed.]
1. Pressed together closely, so as to occupy small space; pressed into a smaller volume and denser composition than the ordinary; condensed.
compressed air has, from its elasticity, been applied as a motive force or substitute for steam, and is also used in Med.; hence such phrasal comb. as compressed air engine, compressed air bath (sometimes hyphened).
| c 1374 Chaucer Boeth. ii. vii. 57 Sest þou nat þan how streit and how compressed [ante so streyt yþrongen] is þilke glorie þat ȝe trauailen aboute to shew and to multiplie. 1669 Boyle Contn. New Exp. ii. (1682) 128 The compressed air suddenly finding out a way of eruption. 1731–59 Miller Gard. Dict. s.v. Wind, Compress'd Air is denser than Air less compress'd. 1857 Engineer IV. 144/1 Making compressed yeast. 1874 Knight Dict. Mech. I. 30/2 Ware's Compressed Air-bath is for subjecting a patient to an enveloping atmosphere of air under pressure. Ibid. 602/2 The compressed-air engine at Ardsley Colliery..travels on wheels and is pushed to its work by hand. Ibid. 604/1 A machine for making compressed bullets. 1879 Daily News 16 Dec. 5/8 The compressed gas being driven into a strong boiler. 1885 Pall Mall G. 13 May 2/2. |
b. compressed score: a musical score in which more than one voice-part is written on a single staff: esp. four-part harmony written on two staves.
| 1877 (title), The Congregational Psalmist: a companion to all the new Hymn-books..Compressed Score edition. |
c. fig. Concentrated; condensed.
| 1822 T. Taylor Apuleius v. 105 Furnished with more compressed thoughts. 1851–5 G. Brimley Ess., Tennyson 96 ‘Love thou thy Land’ is only to be compared with an essay of Lord Bacon's for its compressed energy. 1871 Farrar Witn. Hist. 130 The compressed and haughty page of Tacitus. |
2. Having a flattened form, like the result of pressure; having the two opposite sides nearly plane or flat; spec. in Zool. and Bot. flattened laterally, or along its length.
| 1668 Wilkins Real Char. 112 A small compressed seed. 1753 Chambers Cycl. Supp. s.v. Leaf, Compressed leaf, one with the mark of an impression on both sides. 1797 T. Bewick Brit. Birds (1847) I. 293 The bill is two inches long, vertically compressed on the sides. 1816 Playfair Nat. Phil. II. 179 Mars..is compressed at the poles, so that his equatorial diameter is to his polar axis as 16 to 15 nearly. 1849 Sk. Nat. Hist., Mammalia IV. 201 The hand..is furnished with five powerful but compressed nails. 1882 Vines Sachs' Bot. 620 The stem then becomes cylindrical, or, if it is compressed..still with a uniform breadth. |
b. Printing. compressed type: = condensed type, or a variety thereof.
| 1875 Ure Dict. Manuf. III. 641 Types..have undergone every change in form that fancy or taste could suggest..clarendon, a modification of antique..compressed, or tall thin letters. |
3. Of separate things: Pressed together.
| 1847 Lytton Lucretia i. Prol., His compressed lips told that he felt the anguish of the laugh that circled round him. |