compress

compress — 動詞

1. to make something take up less physical room by applying pressure from different

1.動詞及物 / 不及物B2
釋義

擠壓

施力使體積縮小

to make something take up less physical room by applying pressure from different sides — like pushing a pile of clothes into a suitcase or flattening a cardboard box before recycling it.

例句

Kian compressed the cardboard boxes before putting them in the recycling bin.

Kian 把紙箱壓扁後放進回收桶。

compress + object for disposal

The soil compresses under the weight of passing trucks and heavy rain.

在經過的卡車和豪雨重壓下，土壤會變得密實。

intransitive: material compresses under force

同義詞
  • squeeze

    more informal, often involves hand pressure

  • crush

    implies breaking or damaging the object

  • compact

    suggests packing tightly; more formal or technical

  • condense

    also implies reduction but usually without physical force

反義詞
  • expand

    to increase in size or volume

  • stretch

    to pull something to make it longer or wider

文法句型

compress + something + into + something

compress (no object)

用法筆記

Often followed by 'into' to specify the resulting shape or container. The intransitive use describes a material's natural property, as in 'the foam compresses easily.'

常見錯誤

❌He compressed the button to call the elevator.
✅He pressed the button to call the elevator.
💡'Compress' means to squeeze into a smaller space, not to push a button.

2. to make a text, speech, or body of information shorter while keeping its main me

2.動詞及物B2
釋義

濃縮；精簡

減少篇幅保留原意

to make a text, speech, or body of information shorter while keeping its main meaning — for example, fitting a long meeting summary into one paragraph, or cutting a ninety-minute lecture down to ten minutes of key points.

例句

The reporter compressed the two-hour interview into a three-minute news segment.

記者把兩小時的訪談濃縮成三分鐘的新聞片段。

compress [lengthy material] into [shorter form]

Can you compress this report into one page so the manager can read it quickly?

你能把這份報告精簡成一頁，好讓主管快速閱讀嗎？

同義詞
  • condense

    more common for both text and liquids; implies making denser

  • abridge

    formal, used specifically for written texts like books or articles

  • summarize

    focuses on extracting main points rather than fitting into less space

反義詞
  • expand

    to add more detail or content

  • elaborate

    to explain in greater detail

  • lengthen

    to make longer in words or duration

文法句型

compress + something + into + something

用法筆記

Commonly followed by 'into' to show the shortened result. Unlike 'summarize,' which focuses on extracting key points, 'compress' emphasizes fitting the same content into a physically or temporally smaller space.

常見錯誤

❌Please compress the paragraph.' (vague without context)
✅Please compress the paragraph into two sentences.
💡'Compress' usually needs 'into' to show what the content was reduced to.

3. to use a computer program to make a digital file smaller so that it uses less st

3.動詞及物B2
釋義

壓縮

減少檔案儲存空間

to use a computer program to make a digital file smaller so that it uses less storage space or can be sent over the internet more quickly, without losing its basic content.

例句

Tamás compressed the video files before emailing them to the client.

Tamás 先把影片檔壓縮，才用電子郵件寄給客戶。

You should compress large images before uploading them to your company website.

上傳大圖到公司網站前，應該先壓縮檔案。

compress [images] before uploading

同義詞
  • zip

    informal, specifically refers to the .zip compression format

  • encode

    broader technical term that includes but is not limited to compression

反義詞
  • decompress

    to restore a compressed file to its original size

  • extract

    to take files out of a compressed archive

文法句型

compress + something + to + size

用法筆記

Object is typically a digital file type such as an image, video, audio track, or document folder. Can be used with 'to' to specify the target file size. 'Zip' is a more informal alternative that refers specifically to the .zip format.

常見錯誤

❌The virus compressed all my files.
✅The virus corrupted all my files.
💡'Compress' describes a deliberate action to reduce file size, not accidental damage or corruption of data.
❌I compressed my email to my boss.
✅I compressed the attachment before emailing it to my boss.
💡'Compress' applies to the file or attachment, not to the message itself.

compress — 名詞