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oppress

1. To impose excessive burdens upon; to overload; hence, to treat with unjust rigor or with cruelty. For thee, oppressed king, am I cast down. (Shak) Behold the kings of the earth; how they oppress thy chosen ! (milton)

2. To ravish; to violate.

3. To put down; to crush out; to suppress. The mutiny he there hastes to oppress. (Shak)

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.

Origin: F. Oppresser, LL. Oppressare, fr. L. Oppressus, p. P. Of opprimere; ob (see Ob-) _ premere to press. See Press.