Emily Dickinson Lexicon

COM-POUND'ING, ppr.

Uniting different substances in one body or mass; forming a mixed body; agreeing by concession, or abatement of demands; discharging a debt by agreement to pay less than the original sum, or in a different manner.

COM-PRE-CA'TION, n. [L. con and precatio.]

A praying together. [Little used.]

COM-PRE-HEND', v.t. [L. comprehendo; con and prehendo, to seize or grasp; It. comprendere, prendere; Sp. and Port. comprehender, prender; Fr. comprendre, prendre. This word is a compound of the Latin con and præ, and the Saxon hendan or hentan, to take or seize; ge-hentan, id. Hence forehend, in Spenser. Literally, to take in; to take with, or together.]

1. To contain; to include; to comprise. The empire of Great Britain comprehends England, Scotland and Ireland, with their dependencies.
2. To imply; to contain or include by implication or construction. If there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. – Rom. xiii.
3. To understand; to conceive; that is, to take, hold or contain in the mind; to possess or to have in idea; according to the popular phrase, “I take your meaning.” God doeth great things, which we can not comprehend. – Job. xxxvii. It is not always safe to disbelieve a proposition or statement, because we do not comprehend it.

COM-PRE-HEND'ED, pp.

Contained; included; implied; understood.

COM-PRE-HEND'ING, ppr.

Including; comprising; understanding; implying.

COM-PRE-HEN'SI-BLE, a. [L. comprehensibilis.]

1. That may be comprehended, or included; possible to be comprised.
2. Capable of being understood; intelligible; conceivable by the mind.

COM-PRE-HEN'SI-BLE-NESS, n.

Capability of being understood. – More.

COM-PRE-HEN'SI-BLY, adv.

With great extent of embrace, or comprehension; with large extent of signification; in a manner to comprehend a large circuit. The words wisdom and righteousness are commonly used very comprehensibly, so as to signify all religion and virtue. – Tillotson. This word is rarely used. [See Comprehensively.]

COM-PRE-HEN'SION, n. [L. comprehensio.]

1. The act or quality of comprehending, or containing; a comprising. In the Old Testament there is a close comprehension of the New; in the New, an open discovery of the Old. – Hooker.
2. An including or containing within a narrow compass; a summary; an epitome or compend. This wise and religious aphorism in the text, is the sum and comprehension of all the ingredients of human happiness. – Rogers.
3. Capacity of the mind to understand; power of the understanding to receive and contain ideas; capacity of knowing; as, the nature of spirit is not within our comprehension.
4. In rhetoric, a trope or figure, by which the name of a whole is put for a part, or that of a part for a whole, or a definite number for an indefinite. – Harris.

COM-PRE-HEN'SIVE, a.

1. Having the quality of comprising much, or including a great extent; extensive; as, a comprehensive charity; a comprehensive view. It seems sometimes to convey the sense of comprehending much in a small compass.
2. Having the power to comprehend or understand many things at once; as, a comprehensive head. – Pope.

COM-PRE-HEN'SIVE-LY, adv.

In a comprehensive manner; with great extent of embrace.

COM-PRE-HEN'SIVE-NESS, n.

1. The quality of being comprehensive, or of including much extent; as, the comprehensiveness of a view.
2. The quality of including much in a few words or narrow compass. Compare the beauty and comprehensiveness of legends on ancient coins. – Addison.

COM-PRE-HEN'SOR, n.

One who has obtained knowledge. [Not in use.] – Hall.

COM-PRES-BY-TE'RI-AL, a.

Pertaining to the presbyterian form of ecclesiastical ministration. – Milton.

COM'PRESS, n.

In surgery, a bolster of soft linen cloth, with several folds, used by surgeons to cover a plaster or dressing, to keep it in its place and defend the part from the external air. Encyc.

COM-PRESS', v.t. [L. compressus, comprimo; con and premo, pressusus, to press. But the verb premo and participle pressus, may be from different roots. Fr. presser; D. pressen; Sp. apretar, and prensar. See Press.]

1. To press together by external force; to force, urge, or drive into a narrower compass; to crowd; as, to compress air. The weight of a thousand atmospheres will compress water twelve and a half per cent. – Perkins.
2. To embrace carnally. – Pope.
3. To crowd; to bring within narrow limits or space. Events of centuries … compressed within the compass of a single life. – D. Webster.

COM-PRESS'ED, pp.

1. Pressed or squeezed together; forced into a narrow or narrower compass; embraced carnally.
2. In botany, flatted; having the two opposite sides plane or flat; as, a compressed stem. – Martyn.

COM-PRESS-I-BIL'I-TY, n.

The quality of being compressible, or yielding to pressure; the quality of being capable of compression into a smaller space or compass; as, the compressibility of elastic fluids, or of any soft substance.

COM-PRESS'I-BLE, a.

Capable of being forced or driven into a narrower compass; yielding to pressure; giving way to a force applied; as, elastic fluids are compressible; water is compressible in a small degree.

COM-PRESS'I-BLE-NESS, n.

Compressibility; the quality of being compressible.

COM-PRESS'ING, ppr.

Pressed together.

COM-PRES'SION, n.

1. The act of compressing, or of pressing into a narrower compass; the act of forcing the parts of a body into closer union, or density, by the application of force.
2. The state of being compressed.

COM-PRES'SIVE, a.

Having power to compress. – Smith.

COM-PRES'SURE, n.

The act or force of one body pressing against another; pressure. – Boyle.

COM'PRIEST, n.

A fellow priest. [Not in use.] – Milton.