compression

compression — noun

1. the process of pressing something so that it takes up less space, or of pushing

1.名詞B2
釋義

the process of pressing something so that it takes up less space, or of pushing on an object from several directions at once, which may change its shape.

例句

Compression of the spring released the latch, and the garage door opened slowly.

collocation: compression of [object]

The nurse applied gentle compression to Gabriela's wound to slow the bleeding.

collocation: apply compression to [body part]

同義詞
  • pressure

    refers to the force itself, not the act of applying it

  • squeezing

    more informal; usually used with soft or flexible objects

  • condensation

    describes a substance changing from gas to liquid, not mechanical pressing

反義詞
  • expansion

    the act of something growing bigger or spreading out

  • release

    the removal of force or pressure from something

用法筆記

Uncountable in general use; may take an article ('a compression') when referring to a specific instance or medical event, such as 'a compression of the nerve root.'

常見錯誤

❌The compression of the two ideas is interesting.
✅The comparison of the two ideas is interesting.
💡'compression' describes physical force or shrinking, not intellectual comparison.
❌I put a cold compression on my ankle.
✅I put a cold compress on my ankle.
💡for a physical object like a cold cloth or pad, use 'compress' (countable noun), not 'compression'.

2. the process of shortening an activity, document, or object or scaling it down to

2.名詞B2
釋義

the process of shortening an activity, document, or object or scaling it down to meet a limit on space, time, or cost, sometimes by removing parts.

例句

The compression of the training course into one week left the new staff exhausted.

collocation: compression of [event] into [time]

Rachel found the compression of her work day stressful after lunch breaks were removed.

同義詞
  • shortening

    more literal; usually refers to length or duration only

  • condensation

    often used for written or spoken content; implies preserving essentials

  • reduction

    broader; can refer to any kind of decrease

反義詞
  • expansion

    making something larger or longer

  • extension

    adding more time or space, especially to a deadline or event

用法筆記

Common with nouns of time (schedule, course, day) or space (apartment, room). Often followed by 'into' to show the container or limit. Not used for computer file compression — see sense 3 below.

常見錯誤

❌The compression of the file took ten minutes.' (when talking about a zip file).
✅The compression of the file took ten minutes.
💡This is correct in sense 3, but if you mean general size-reduction (e.g., a paper document), specify context: 'The compression of the printed report into a pamphlet worked well.'

3. a method of reducing how much memory a digital file uses on a storage device, ca

3.名詞B1
釋義

a method of reducing how much memory a digital file uses on a storage device, carried out by a program that identifies and strips out repeated information.

例句

File compression reduced the video from two gigabytes to just four hundred megabytes.

collocation: file compression

Hao used compression software to make the large report small enough to send by email.

collocation: compression software

同義詞
  • zipping

    informal term from the WinZip program; mainly used with archive files (.zip)

  • data compression

    the full technical term; more precise but less common in everyday use

  • encoding

    broader; covers converting data into any format, not only size reduction

反義詞
  • decompression

    the process of restoring a compressed file to its original size

  • extraction

    unpacking files from a compressed archive

用法筆記

Two main types: 'lossless compression' (no data is lost, used for documents and text) and 'lossy compression' (some data is discarded, used for photos and video where minor quality loss is acceptable).

常見錯誤

❌The compression of the spring is too tight.' (meaning the physical spring is pressed).
✅The compression of the spring is too tight.
💡This is correct for sense 1. For computing, specify: 'The file compression reduced the size by eighty percent.'
❌I downloaded a compression of the song.
✅I downloaded a compressed version of the song.' or 'I downloaded the song in compressed format.
💡'compression' is the process, not the resulting file.