compression

/kəmˈpreʃn/ (bre, ipa) · /kəmˈpreʃn/ (ame, ipa) · /kəm-ˈpre-shən/ (ame, mw)

compression — 名詞

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

1.名詞B2
釋義

物理壓縮

從各方向施壓使物體體積變小

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.

彈簧受到物理壓縮後鬆開了卡榫，車庫門便緩慢地打開了。

collocation: compression of [object]

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

護理師在 Gabriela 的傷口上輕輕加壓，以減緩出血。

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

濃縮精簡

縮短或縮小以符合時間或空間限制

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.

訓練課程濃縮成一週，讓新進員工感到筋疲力竭。

collocation: compression of [event] into [time]

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

公司取消午休時間後，Rachel 覺得工作日被壓縮得很緊繃。

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

數位壓縮

用軟體縮小電腦檔案所佔的儲存空間

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.

檔案數位壓縮將影片從 2 GB 縮小到只有 400 MB。

collocation: file compression

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

Hao 使用壓縮軟體將大型報告縮小到可以用電子郵件寄出。

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.