Noah Webster's New International Dictionary of the English Language

1. (v. t.) To impose excessive burdens upon; to overload; hence, to treat with unjust rigor or with cruelty.

2. (v. t.) To ravish; to violate.

3. (v. t.) To put down; to crush out; to suppress.

4. (v. t.) To produce a sensation of weight in (some part of the body); as, my lungs are oppressed by the damp air; excess of food oppresses the stomach.