joined or packed together; closely and firmly united; dense; solid: compact soil.
arranged within a relatively small space: a compact shopping center; a compact kitchen.
designed to be small in size and economical in operation.
solidly or firmly built: the compact body of a lightweight wrestler.
expressed concisely; pithy; terse; not diffuse: a compact review of the week's news.
composed or made (usually followed by of): a book compact of form and content.
Also bicompact. Mathematics. (of a set) having the property that in any collection of open sets whose union contains the given set there exists a finite number of open sets whose union contains the given set; having the property that every open cover has a finite subcover.
verb (used with object)
to join or pack closely together; consolidate; condense.
to make firm or stable.
to form or make by close union or conjunction; make up or compose.
Metallurgy. to compress (metallic or metallic and nonmetallic powders) in a die to be sintered.
to crush into compact form for convenient disposal or for storage until disposal: to compact rubbish.
noun
a small case containing a mirror, face powder, a puff, and sometimes rouge.
Also called compact car . an automobile that is smaller than an intermediate but larger than a subcompact and generally has a combined passenger and luggage volume of 100–110 cu. ft. (2.8–3.1 m3).
Metallurgy. (in powder metallurgy) an object to be sintered formed of metallic or of metallic and nonmetallic powders compressed in a die.
Origin of compact
1
1375–1425; late Middle English <Latin compāctus (past participle of compingere to shut away, bind together), equivalent to com-com- + pag-, variant stem of pangere to fix, arrange (akin to pāxpeace; cf. pact, compact2) + -tus past participle suffix
a formal agreement between two or more parties, states, etc.; contract: the proposed economic compact between Germany and France.
Origin of compact
2
1580–90; <Latin compactum,compectum, noun use of neuter of compactus (past participle of compacīscī to make an agreement), equivalent to com-com- + pac- (stem of pacīscī to secure by negotiation, akin to pāx settlement ending hostilities, peace) + -tus past participle ending
Films are at their best when they can compact a story down to its essentials.
Gamers Want to Game: Video Games Aren't Blockbuster Movies|Alec Kubas-Meyer|August 28, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The next thing that happened, which was really great, was that the tapes became available on compact discs.
Going Public With the Nixon Tapes|Scott Porch|August 7, 2014|DAILY BEAST
It will swiftly become clear that there is no room in this starry-eyed arrangement for a compact with Washington.
John Kerry Just Visited. But Should We Just Forget About India?|Tunku Varadarajan|August 3, 2014|DAILY BEAST
One of note is a compact power adaptor with a protective cover.
Apple Wants to Make Your Head Into an App|Abby Haglage|February 19, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Compact and precise—just 172 pages of text and 23 pages of notes—the book is a model of lucid historical writing.
The Best Books on President Lincoln|Allen Barra|February 17, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The speculation failed, and your father basely withdrew from the compact, persuading the other brother to follow his lead.
The Stowmarket Mystery|Louis Tracy
It was not a long confession, but it was compact and telling.
The Grey Cloak|Harold MacGrath
Each belt represented a compact, the conditions of which were retained in memory by the chiefs and warriors of the tribe.
Legends of The Kaw|Carrie de Voe
The boulders of Erreré are entirely distinct from the rock of the Serra, and consist of masses of compact hornblende.
The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 18, No. 106, August, 1866|Various
The streets are narrow, and the whole village as compact as if built to sustain a siege.
Scenes and Adventures in the Semi-Alpine Region of the Ozark Mountains of Missouri and Arkansas|Henry Rowe Schoolcraft
British Dictionary definitions for compact (1 of 2)
compact1
adjective (kəmˈpækt, ˈkɒmpækt)
closely packed together; dense
neatly fitted into a restricted space
concise; brief
well constructed; solid; firm
(foll by of)composed or made up (of)
denoting a tabloid-sized version of a newspaper that has traditionally been published in broadsheet form
logic(of a relation) having the property that for any pair of elements such that a is related to b, there is some element c such that a is related to c and c to b, as less than on the rational numbers
US and Canadian(of a car) small and economical
verb (kəmˈpækt) (tr)
to pack or join closely together; compress; condense
(foll by of)to create or form by pressing togethersediment compacted of three types of clay
metallurgyto compress (a metal powder) to form a stable product suitable for sintering
noun (ˈkɒmpækt)
a small flat case containing a mirror, face powder, etc, designed to be carried in a woman's handbag
US and Canadiana comparatively small and economical car
metallurgya mass of metal prepared for sintering by cold-pressing a metal powder
a tabloid-sized version of a newspaper that has traditionally been publis hed in broadsheet form