REPRESS

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does repress mean? 

• REPRESS (verb)
  The verb REPRESS has 5 senses:

1. put down by force or intimidation

2. impede or hinder the natural development or self-expression of

3. suppress in order to conceal or hide

4. put out of one's consciousness

5. block the action of

  Familiarity information: REPRESS used as a verb is common.

 Dictionary entry details 

• REPRESS (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they repress    ... he / she / it represses   
Past simple: repressed   
Past participle: repressed   
-ing form: repressing   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Put down by force or intimidation

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Synonyms:

keep down; quash; reduce; repress; subdue; subjugate

Context example:

The rich landowners subjugated the peasants working the land

Hypernyms (to "repress" is one way to...):

crush; oppress; suppress (come down on or keep down by unjust use of one's authority)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody

Derivation:

repression (the act of repressing; control by holding down)

repression (a state of forcible subjugation)

repressive (restrictive of action)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Impede or hinder the natural development or self-expression of

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Hypernyms (to "repress" is one way to...):

hinder; impede (be a hindrance or obstacle to)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody
Something ----s something

Sense 3

Meaning:

Suppress in order to conceal or hide

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Synonyms:

muffle; repress; smother; stifle; strangle

Context example:

repress a cry of fear

Hypernyms (to "repress" is one way to...):

bottle up; inhibit; suppress (consciously restrain from showing; of emotions, desires, impulses, or behavior)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody
Something ----s something

Sense 4

Meaning:

Put out of one's consciousness

Classified under:

Verbs of thinking, judging, analyzing, doubting

Synonyms:

repress; suppress

Hypernyms (to "repress" is one way to...):

bury; forget (dismiss from the mind; stop remembering)

Domain category:

psychiatry; psychological medicine; psychopathology (the branch of medicine dealing with the diagnosis and treatment of mental disorders)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody
Somebody ----s that CLAUSE

Sense 5

Meaning:

Block the action of

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Context example:

the process of repressing gene transcription

Hypernyms (to "repress" is one way to...):

change (undergo a change; become different in essence; losing one's or its original nature)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

 Context examples 

This soluble, nuclear protein plays a role in repressing the expression of genes through SUMOylation of lysine 119 of histone H2A.

(E3 SUMO-Protein Ligase CBX4, NCI Thesaurus)

Over-expression of E2F-1 can induce cellular transformation and under-expression can repress apoptosis.

(E2F1 Degradation Pathway, NCI Thesaurus/BIOCARTA)

The receptor complex subsequently translocates to the nucleus and activates or represses genes by interacting with short, palindromic DNA sequences called glucocorticoid response element (GRE).

(Diflorasone, NCI Thesaurus)

EWS contains a transcription activation domain, but the RNA-binding domain can repress trans-activation by the activation domain.

(Ewing Sarcoma Breakpoint Region 1 Protein, NCI Thesaurus)

Histone hyperacetylation usually characterizes active chromatin, while histone deacetylation correlates with repressed transcription.

(Gene Silencing Pathway, NCI Thesaurus/BIOCARTA)

I will not swear, reader, that there was not something of repressed sarcasm both in the tone in which I uttered this sentence, and in the feeling that accompanied it.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

ChREBP, carbohydrate responsive element binding protein, is a transcription factor that is activated by high levels of carbohydrates and repressed by cAMP.

(ChREBP Pathway, NCI Thesaurus/BIOCARTA)

Her eyes occasionally filled with tears, but those she repressed.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

DAXX co-represses transcription by recruitment to nucleoli or PML/POD/ND10 nuclear bodies through interaction with MCSR1 or PML and directly inhibits PAX3 and ETS1.

(Death Domain-Associated Protein 6, NCI Thesaurus)

After a silence of several minutes, he came towards her in an agitated manner, and thus began: In vain I have struggled. It will not do. My feelings will not be repressed.

(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)