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Compress vs Express - What's the difference?

compress | express |

In lang=en terms the difference between compress and express

is that compress is to abridge while express is to press, squeeze out (especially said of milk).

In obsolete|lang=en terms the difference between compress and express

is that compress is (obsolete) to embrace sexually while express is (obsolete) a specific statement or instruction.

As verbs the difference between compress and express

is that compress is to make smaller; to press or squeeze together, or to make something occupy a smaller space or volume while express is (senseid) to convey or communicate; to make known or explicit.

As nouns the difference between compress and express

is that compress is a multiply folded piece of cloth, a pouch of ice etc, used to apply to a patient's skin, cover the dressing of wounds, and placed with the aid of a bandage to apply pressure on an injury while express is a mode of transportation, often a train, that travels quickly or directly or express can be (obsolete) the action of conveying some idea using words or actions; communication, expression.

As an adjective express is

(not comparable) moving or operating quickly, as a train not making local stops.

compress

English

Etymology 1

From (etyl) compresser, from compressare 'to press hard/together', from compressus, the past participle of comprimere 'to compress', itself from com- 'together' + premere 'to press'

Verb

  • To make smaller; to press or squeeze together, or to make something occupy a smaller space or volume.
    • The force required to compress a spring varies linearly with the displacement.
  • * D. Webster
    • events of centuries compressed within the compass of a single life
  • * Melmoth
    • The same strength of expression, though more compressed , runs through his historical harangues.
  • To be pressed together or folded by compression into a more economic, easier format.
    • ''Our new model compresses easily, ideal for storage and travel
  • To condense into a more economic, easier format.
    • This chart compresses the entire audit report into a few lines on a single diagram.
  • To abridge.
    • If you try to compress the entire book into a three-sentence summary, you will lose a lot of information.
  • (technology) To make digital information smaller by encoding it using fewer bits.
  • (obsolete) To embrace sexually.
    • (Alexander Pope)
    Synonyms
    * (press together ): compact, condense, pack, press, squash, squeeze * (be pressed together ): contract * (condense, abridge ): abridge, condense, shorten, truncate
    Antonyms
    * (press together ): expand * (be pressed together ): decontract * (condense, abridge ): expand, lengthen * (make computing data smaller ): uncompress
    Derived terms
    * compressed * compressed air * compressedly * compressibility * compressible * compression * compressive * compressive strength * compressor * decompress
    Related terms
    * compression

    Etymology 2

    From (etyl) compresse, from compresser 'to compress', from Late (etyl) compressare 'to press hard/together', from compressus, the past participle of comprimere 'to compress', itself from com- 'together' + premere 'to press'

    Noun

    (es)
  • A multiply folded piece of cloth, a pouch of ice etc., used to apply to a patient's skin, cover the dressing of wounds, and placed with the aid of a bandage to apply pressure on an injury.
    • He held a cold compress over the sprain.
  • A machine for compressing
    • Related terms
    * compression

    express

    English

    (wikipedia express)

    Etymology 1

    From (etyl) , from (etyl) expressus, past participle of (exprimere) (see Etymology 2, below).

    Adjective

    (en adjective)
  • (not comparable) Moving or operating quickly, as a train not making local stops.
  • (comparable) Specific or precise; directly and distinctly stated; not merely implied.
    • I gave him express instructions not to begin until I arrived, but he ignored me.
    This book cannot be copied without the express permission of the publisher.
  • Truly depicted; exactly resembling.
    • In my eyes it bore a livelier image of the spirit, it seemed more express and single, than the imperfect and divided countenance.
  • * Milton
    • Their human countenance / The express resemblance of the gods.
    Synonyms
    * explicit * (of a train) fast, crack
    Antonyms
    * implied

    Noun

    (es)
  • A mode of transportation, often a train, that travels quickly or directly.
    • I took the express into town.
  • * {{quote-book, year=1931, author=
    • , title=Death Walks in Eastrepps , chapter=1/1 citation , passage=The train was moving less fast through the summer night. The swift express had changed into something almost a parliamentary, had stopped three times since Norwich, and now, at long last, was approaching Banton.}}
  • A service that allows mail or money to be sent rapidly from one destination to another.
  • An express rifle.
  • * H. Rider Haggard, King Solomon's Mines
    • "Give me my express ," I said, laying down the Winchester, and he handed it to me cocked.
  • (obsolete) A clear image or representation; an expression; a plain declaration.
  • * Jeremy Taylor
    • the only remanent express of Christ's sacrifice on earth
  • A messenger sent on a special errand; a courier.
  • An express office.
  • * E. E. Hale
    • She charged him to ask at the express if anything came up from town.
  • That which is sent by an express messenger or message.
    • (Eikon Basilike)
    Synonyms
    * (of a train) fast train
    Antonyms
    * (of a train) local, stopper

    Etymology 2

    From (etyl) espresser, (expresser), from frequentative form of (etyl) exprimere.

    Verb

    (es)
  • (senseid) To convey or communicate; to make known or explicit.
  • *
    • , title=(The Celebrity), chapter=5 , passage=We expressed our readiness, and in ten minutes were in the station wagon, rolling rapidly down the long drive, for it was then after nine. We passed on the way the van of the guests from Asquith. As we reached the lodge we heard the whistle, and we backed up against one side of the platform as the train pulled up at the other.}}
  • To press, squeeze out (especially said of milk).
  • * 1851 , (Herman Melville), (Moby-Dick) ,
    • The people of his island of Rokovoko, it seems, at their wedding feasts express the fragrant water of young cocoanuts into a large stained calabash like a punchbowl [...].
  • (biochemistry) To translate messenger RNA into protein.
  • (biochemistry) To transcribe deoxyribonucleic acid into messenger RNA.
    • Synonyms
    * (l), (l)
    Related terms
    * expressible * expressibly * expression * expressive * expressively * expressly

    Noun

    (expresses)
  • (obsolete) The action of conveying some idea using words or actions; communication, expression.
  • * 1646 , Sir Thomas Browne, Pseudodoxia Epidemica , V.20:
    • Whereby they discoursed in silence, and were intuitively understood from the theory of their expresses .
  • (obsolete) A specific statement or instruction.
  • * 1646 , (Sir Thomas Browne), Pseudodoxia Epidemica , II.5:
    • This Gentleman [...] caused a man to go down no less than a hundred fathom, with express to take notice whether it were hard or soft in the place where it groweth.