transitive verb

1. to keep down or hold back; restrain to repress a sigh
2. to put down; subdue
3. to control so strictly or severely as to prevent the natural development or expression of to repress a child
4. Psychiatry
   1. to force (ideas, impulses, etc. painful to the conscious mind) into the unconscious
   2. to prevent (unconscious ideas, impulses, etc.) from reaching the level of consciousness

Etymology: ME repressen < L repressus, pp. of reprimere: see re- & press