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comprimer

to compress, to squeeze

verb kom-pree-MAY Rare
Body & Health Medicine

Origin: Latin comprimere, from com- + premere 'to press'

Also means

to reduce, to cut back

Usage Note

Comprimer is used both physically (compress a gas, squeeze a wound) and figuratively (cut costs, reduce staff — comprimer les dépenses). In computing, compresser is now the standard term for file compression, whereas comprimer has shifted toward the financial and medical senses in contemporary usage.

Examples

"Il faut comprimer la plaie pour arrêter le saignement."

Natural Translation

You must compress the wound to stop the bleeding.

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