repress, v. 1. keep under control, control, check, keep in check; arrest, contain, restrain, hold back; harness, bridle, rein in, hold in leash; restrict, fetter, shackle, confine, limit, cramp, constrain; hold in, bottle up, cork up, box up, shut up, seal; block, impede, inhibit, hinder, hamper, deter; detain, keep in, hold, stay; prohibit, forbid, disallow, interdict, prevent, suppress; preclude, obviate, nip in the bud, Inf. put the kibosh on.
2. curb, curtail, cut down on, moderate, temper; interrupt, let up, pause, suspend, intermit, Inf. bite or hold one's tongue; discontinue, stop, cease, halt, terminate, put an end to; drop, have done with, let alone, let be.
3. suppress, keep from, withhold, hide, conceal, bury, reserve, refrain from giving; keep secret, not disclose, SI. clam up; censor, keep back, Inf. pull punches, deny, abnegate; mask, cloak, secrete, veil, screen, shroud, camouflage, cover up; squelch, muzzle, muffle, mute, still, tone down, hush up, silence, quiet; smother, stifle, choke, gag.
4. put down, quell, quash, subdue, suppress; squelch, Inf. put the kibosh on, squash; overthrow, overturn, overcome, overbear, overwhelm, overpower; subvert, topple, conquer, defeat, vanquish; quench, snuff out, extinguish, kill; stamp out, trample, put out; do away with, remove, dissolve, dispose of, get rid of, eliminate; terminate, stop, put an end to.
5. subjugate, subject, enthrall, enslave, reduce to slavery, hold captive, hold in bondage; dominate, rule, overrule, control, command; master, gain the upper hand, subdue, get the better of; browbeat, intimidate, bully, break, humble; oppress, keep down, tyrannize, domineer, govern despotically; crush, ruin, devastate, defeat, conquer, vanquish.
repression, n. 1. control, restraint, check, curb; blockage, impediment, obstruction, inhibition, hindrance, encumbrance, determent, deterrent, restriction, fettering, shackling, chaining, tethering, harnessing, bridling; constraint, cramp, limitation, confinement, keeping back, suppression; prevention, forbiddance, embargo, interdict, interdiction, prohibition; disallowance, preclusion, obviation.
2. suppression, withholding, hiding, concealing, concealment, burial; censorship, keeping back, denying, denial, abnegation; mask, disguise, cloak, veil, screen, shroud, camouflage, cover-up; muzzling, muffling, muting, stilling, hushing up, quieting, silencing; smothering, stifling, suffocating, suffocation, choking down, gagging.
3. quelling, quashing, putting down, squelching, squashing; overthrow, overturn, subversion; overcoming, conquest, defeat, vanquishment; quenching, extinguishment, killing, stamping or snuffing out, putting out, trampling; doing away with, removal, disposal, getting rid of, dissolution; elimination, termination, stoppage, arrestment, putting an end to.