de·com·press

(dē′kəm-prĕs′)

v. de·com·pressed, de·com·press·ing, de·com·press·es

v.tr.

1. To relieve of pressure or compression.

2. To bring (a person exposed to conditions of increased pressure) gradually back to normal atmospheric pressure.

v.intr.

1. To adjust to normal atmospheric conditions after being exposed to increased pressure.

2. Informal To relax: decompressed after 12 hours of driving.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Noun

decompressing - relieving pressure (especially bringing a compressed person gradually back to atmospheric pressure)

decompression

alleviation, easement, easing, relief - the act of reducing something unpleasant (as pain or annoyance); "he asked the nurse for relief from the constant pain"

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References in periodicals archive

Major Esmail Hassan Mahmoud, head of the fitness section in the Transport and Rescue Department, said the decompression chamber was established two years ago and has helped treat amateur divers who fall after ill after not decompressing properly from deep ocean diving.

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Used for compressing and decompressing 3D geometric meshes and clouds, Draco features a WebAssembly decoder for better performance.

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Also, if the bladder is distended with fluid when looking for defects, it pays to wait a few minutes before decompressing, as small leaks may gradually deflate the bladder and alert the surgeon to the need for further investigation.

Use baby formula to check for bladder integrity

It also supports compressing voice files (Raw PCM and *.WAV formats) and decompressing the compressed files and *.BIN (binary audio files) files.

GL Announces G.722 Wideband Audio Codec Support Across TDM and VoIP Platforms

The retired basketball player, who entered a New Jersey-based alcohol rehabilitation facility soon after his return from North Korea, said he did not enter the facility for alcoholism but for decompressing from all the things he was going through.

Dennis Rodman vows never to go back to North Korea again

Some soldiers spend two weeks "decompressing" in Cyprus to help them adjust to life away from the combat zone and all units have officers trained to detect signs of trauma.

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