decompression.

1. A reduction or release of pressure, especially surrounding gas pressure.

2. The restoration of compressed digital data to a usable representation.

3. Relief or release from accumulated psychological or situational pressure.

Use it for

Words that belong together

• rapid decompression
• cabin decompression

On the page

Rapid decompression interrupted the crew’s work before they knew which seal had failed.

The report separated cabin decompression from the later effects on the occupants.

Usage notes

Primary category: horror / sci-fi / gothic. Forms: Usually uncountable. Legacy lexical fields mirror sense 1 only. Use numbered sense fields for all meanings. Established modern English lexical item. No separate regional spelling or grammatical inflection entry. Writing functions: hazard description, speculative setting, bodily condition, scene explanation. Disciplines: genre writing, science-informed description, clinical and safety vocabulary. Commonness: moderately common.