[syn: oppression, oppressiveness]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Oppression \Op*pres"sion\, n. [F., fr. L. oppressio.]
1. The act of oppressing, or state of being oppressed.
[1913 Webster]
2. That which oppresses; a hardship or injustice; cruelty;
severity; tyranny. "The multitude of oppressions." --Job
xxxv. 9.
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3. A sense of heaviness or obstruction in the body or mind;
depression; dullness; lassitude; as, an oppression of
spirits; an oppression of the lungs.
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There gentle Sleep
First found me, and with soft oppression seized
My drowsed sense. --Milton.
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4. Ravishment; rape. [Obs.] --Chaucer.
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WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):
oppression
n 1: the act of subjugating by cruelty; "the tyrant's oppression
of the people" [syn: oppression, subjugation]
2: the state of being kept down by unjust use of force or
authority: "after years of oppression they finally revolted"
3: a feeling of being oppressed [syn: oppression,
oppressiveness]