OPPRESS

oppress, suppress, crush

(verb) come down on or keep down by unjust use of one’s authority; “The government oppresses political activists”

persecute, oppress

(verb) cause to suffer; “Some religious groups are persecuted in some countries”

Source: WordNet® 3.1

Etymology

Verb

oppress (third-person singular simple present oppresses, present participle oppressing, simple past and past participle oppressed)

(transitive) To keep down by unjust force.

(transitive) To make sad or gloomy.

(transitive, obsolete) Physically to press down on (someone) with harmful effects; to smother, crush.

Anagrams

• porpess, soppers

Source: Wiktionary

Op*press", v. t. [imp. & p. p. Oppressed; p. pr. & vb. n. Oppressing.] Etym: [F. oppresser, LL. oppressare, fr. L. oppressus, p. p. of opprimere; ob (see Ob-) + premere to press. See Press.]

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

2. To ravish; to violate. [Obs.] Chaucer.

3. To put down; to crush out; to suppress. [Obs.] 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.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition