Op*pres"sion (?), n. [F., fr. L.
oppressio.]
1. The act of oppressing, or state of being
oppressed.
2. That which oppresses; a hardship or
injustice; cruelty; severity; tyranny. "The multitude of
oppressions." Job xxxv. 9.
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.
There gentlee Sleep
First found me, and with soft oppression seized
My drowsed sense.
Milton.
4. Ravishment; rape. [Obs.]
Chaucer.