"represses" in the verb sense
1. repress, quash, keep down, subdue, subjugate, reduce
put down by force or intimidation
"The government quashes any attempt of an uprising"
"China keeps down her dissidents very efficiently"
"The rich landowners subjugated the peasants working the land"
2. repress
impede or hinder the natural development or self-expression of
3. smother, stifle, strangle, muffle, repress
suppress in order to conceal or hide
"smother a yawn"
"muffle one's anger"
"strangle a laugh"
"repress a cry of fear"
4. suppress, repress
put out of one's consciousness
5. repress
block the action of
"the process of repressing gene transcription"
Source: WordNet® (An amazing lexical database of English)
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