suppress Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. verb to put down by force or authority
    inhibit; stamp down; subdue; curb; conquer.
    • suppress a nascent uprising
    • stamp down on littering
    • conquer one's desires
  2. verb come down on or keep down by unjust use of one's authority
    crush; oppress.
    • The government oppresses political activists
  3. verb control and refrain from showing; of emotions, desires, impulses, or behavior
    bottle up; inhibit.
  4. verb put out of one's consciousness
    repress.
  5. verb reduce the incidence or severity of or stop
    • suppress a yawn
    • this drug can suppress the hemorrhage

WordNet

Sup*press" transitive verb
Etymology
L. suppressus, p.p. of supprimere to suppress; sub under + premere, pressum, to press. See Sub-, and Press.
Wordforms
imperfect & past participle Suppressed ; present participle & verbal noun Suppressing
Definitions
  1. To overpower and crush; to subdue; to put down; to quell.
    Every rebellion, when it is suppressed, doth make the subject weaker, and the prince stronger. Sir J. Davies.
  2. To keep in; to restrain from utterance or vent; as, to suppress the voice; to suppress a smile. Sir W. Scott.
  3. To retain without disclosure; to conceal; not to reveal; to prevent publication of; as, to suppress evidence; to suppress a pamphlet; to suppress the truth.
    She suppresses the name, and this keeps him in a pleasing suspense. Broome.
  4. To stop; to restrain; to arrest the discharges of; as, to suppress a diarrhea, or a hemorrhage. Syn. -- To repress; restrain; put down; overthrow; overpower; overwhelm; conceal; stifle; stop; smother.

Webster 1913