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To press down; to cause to sink; to let fall; to lower; as, to depress the muzzle of a gun; to depress the eyes. "With lips depressed." Tennyson.

An agent or remedy which lowers the vital powers.

Pressed or forced down; lowed; sunk; dejected; dispirited; sad; humbled.

In a depressing manner.

The act of depressing.

Able or tending to depress or cast down. -- De*press"ive*ness, n.

Depressing or diminishing the capacity for movement, as depressomotor nerves, which lower or inhibit muscular activity. -- n.

A muscle that depresses or tends to draw down a part. Depressor nerve (Physiol.), a nerve which lowers the activity of an organ; as, the depressor nerve of the heart.

To lower or depress; to throw or cast down; as, to abase the eye. [Archaic] Bacon. Saying so, he abased his lance. Shelton.

A small depression, sac, or vesicle, as the socket of a tooth, the air cells of the lungs, the ultimate saccules of glands, etc.

As if dead; lifeless; spiritless; dejected; depressed. Shak.

A sinuous depression or sulcus like those separating the convolutions of the brain.

A fish (Lophius piscatorius), of Europe and America, having a large, broad, and depressed head, with the mouth very large. Peculiar appendages on the head are said to be used to entice fishes within reach. Called also fishing frog, frogfish, toadfish, goosefish, allmouth, monkfish, etc.

A small wild ox of Celebes (Anoa depressicornis), allied to the buffalo, but having long nearly straight horns.

To depress or discourage with fear; to impress with fear in such a manner that the mind shrinks, or loses its firmness; to overcome with sudden terror or horror; to dismay; as, the sight appalled the stoutest heart. The house of peers was somewhat appalled at this alarum. Clarendon.

Depression occasioned by terror; dismay. [Obs.] Bacon.

ds, consisting of a belt of coral reef, partly submerged, surrounding a central lagoon or depression; a lagoon island.

A zitherlike musical instrument, provided with dampers which, when depressed, deaden some strings, leaving free others that form a chord.

A circular or oval valley, or depression of the surface of the ground, the lowest part of which is generally occupied by a lake, or traversed by a river.

To endeavor to depress the price of, or prices in; as, to bear a railroad stock; to bear the market.