repression Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun a state of forcible subjugation
    • the long repression of Christian sects
  2. noun (psychiatry) the classical defense mechanism that protects you from impulses or ideas that would cause anxiety by preventing them from becoming conscious
  3. noun the act of repressing; control by holding down
    • his goal was the repression of insolence

WordNet

Re*pres"sion noun
Etymology
Cf. F. répression.
Definitions
  1. The act of repressing, or state of being repressed; as, the repression of evil and evil doers.
  2. That which represses; check; restraint.

Webster 1913