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Webster 1913 Edition

Oppress

Op-press′

,
Verb.
T.
[
imp. & p. p.
Oppressed
;
p. pr. & vb. n.
Oppressing
.]
[F.
oppresser
, LL.
oppressare
, fr. L.
oppressus
, p. p. of
opprimere
;
ob
(see
Ob-
) +
premere
to press. See
Press
.]
1.
To impose excessive burdens upon; to overload; hence, to treat with unjust rigor or with cruelty.
Wyclif.
For thee,
oppressèd
king, am I cast down.
Shakespeare
Behold the kings of the earth; how they
oppress

Thy chosen!
Milton.
2.
To ravish; to violate.
[Obs.]
Chaucer.
3.
To put down; to crush out; to suppress.
[Obs.]
The mutiny he there hastes to
oppress
.
Shakespeare
4.
To produce a sensation of weight in (some part of the body);
as, my lungs are
oppressed
by the damp air; excess of food
oppresses
the stomach
.

Webster 1828 Edition

Oppress

OPPRESS'

,
Verb.
T.
[L. appressus, from opprimo; ob and premo, to press.]
1.
To load or burden with unreasonable impositions; to treat with unjust severity, rigor or hardship; as, to oppress a nation with taxes or contributions; to oppress one by compelling him to perform unreasonable service.
2.
To overpower; to overburden; as, to be oppressed with grief.
3.
to sit or lie heavy on; as, excess of good oppresses the stomach.

Definition 2024

oppress

oppress

English

Verb

oppress ‎(third-person singular simple present oppresses, present participle oppressing, simple past and past participle oppressed)

  1. (obsolete) Physically to press down on (someone) with harmful effects; to smother, crush.
    • 1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, II.x:
      Most mercilesse of women, VVyden hight, / Her other sonne fast sleeping did oppresse, / And with most cruell hand him murdred pittilesse.
  2. (transitive) To keep down by force
    The rural poor were oppressed by the land-owners.
  3. (transitive) To make sad or gloomy
    We were oppressed by the constant grey skies.

Conjugation

Related terms

Translations

External links

  • oppress in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
  • oppress in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911

Etymology

From Middle English oppressen, from Old French oppresser, from Medieval Latin oppressare ‎(“to press against, oppress”), frequentive of Latin opprimere, past participle oppressus ‎(“to press against, press together, oppress”), from ob ‎(“against”) + premere, past participle pressus ‎(“to press”); see press.

Pronunciation

  • Rhymes: -ɛs

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