Definitions of repression:

  • noun:   the act of repressing; control by holding down
    Example: "His goal was the repression of insolence"
  • noun:   (psychiatry) the classical defense mechanism that protects you from impulses or ideas that would cause anxiety by preventing them from becoming conscious
  • noun:   a state of forcible subjugation
    Example: "The long repression of Christian sects"