Learning / English Dictionary

SUPPRESS

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Lessen to the point of stopping

Example:

this drug can suppress the hemorrhage

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

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

decrease; lessen; minify (make smaller)

Sentence frames:

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

Sense 2

Meaning:

Bring under control by force or authority

Example:

conquer one's desires

Synonyms:

conquer; stamp down; subdue; suppress

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

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

check; contain; control; curb; hold; hold in; moderate (lessen the intensity of; temper; hold in restraint; hold or keep within limits)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "suppress"):

choke back; choke down; choke off (suppress)

hush; hush up; quieten; shut up; silence; still (cause to be quiet or not talk)

burke (get rid of, silence, or suppress)

silence (keep from expression, for example by threats or pressure)

quell; quench; squelch (suppress or crush completely)

quench (electronics: suppress (sparking) when the current is cut off in an inductive circuit, or suppress (an oscillation or discharge) in a component or device)

Sentence frames:

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

Derivation:

suppresser (an electrical device for suppressing unwanted currents)

suppresser (someone who suppresses)

suppression (forceful prevention; putting down by power or authority)

suppression (the act of withholding or withdrawing some book or writing from publication or circulation)

suppressive (tending to suppress)

suppressor (someone who suppresses)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Put out of one's consciousness

Synonyms:

repress; suppress

Classified under:

Verbs of thinking, judging, analyzing, doubting

Hypernyms (to "suppress" 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

Derivation:

suppression ((psychology) the conscious exclusion of unacceptable thoughts or desires)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Consciously restrain from showing; of emotions, desires, impulses, or behavior

Example:

he let his anger bottle up until he exploded

Synonyms:

bottle up; inhibit; suppress

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "suppress"):

dampen; stifle (suppress or constrain so as to lessen in intensity)

muffle; repress; smother; stifle; strangle (suppress in order to conceal or hide)

choke (check or slow down the action or effect of)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Sense 5

Meaning:

Come down on or keep down by unjust use of one's authority

Example:

The government oppresses political activists

Synonyms:

crush; oppress; suppress

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "suppress"):

keep down; quash; reduce; repress; subdue; subjugate (put down by force or intimidation)

Sentence frames:

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

Derivation:

suppresser (someone who suppresses)

suppression (forceful prevention; putting down by power or authority)

suppressive (tending to suppress)

Credits

 Context examples: 

They further discovered that C3a suppresses an enzyme called Dusp26 that can damage beta cells and cause them to die.

(New Potential Approach Found to Type 2 Diabetes Treatment, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

He fought to suppress the eagerness in his voice.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

The bacterium itself also suppresses the mosquitoes’ ability to transmit a virus.

(Mosquitos rendered infertile by biological engineering, SciDev.Net)

Conversely, mutations in other parts of mitochondrial DNA were more likely to be suppressed, such as the code for how mitochondria produce their own proteins.

(Interplay between mitochondria and the nucleus may have implications for changing cell’s ‘batteries’, University of Cambridge)

I have made it, thus far, with no purpose of suppressing any of my thoughts; for, as I have elsewhere said, this narrative is my written memory.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

Substances that reduce or suppress inflammation.

(Anti-Inflammatory Agent, NCI Thesaurus)

This receptor acts like a switch in the brain to suppress appetite.

(Discovery of genetic variants that protect against obesity and type 2 diabetes could lead to new weight loss medicines, University of Cambridge)

These may include: • Steroids, which reduce inflammation • Drugs that suppress the immune system response • Antibiotics to treat associated infections

(Pemphigus, NIH: National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases)

He looked very ill; evidently suffering under violent emotions, which he was determined to suppress.

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)

An anticancer drug that is used to decrease estrogen production and suppress the growth of tumors that need estrogen to grow.

(Anastrozole, NCI Dictionary)