Hypertext Webster Gateway: "press"

From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)

Press \Press\, v. i.
1. To exert pressure; to bear heavily; to push, crowd, or
urge with steady force.

2. To move on with urging and crowding; to make one's way
with violence or effort; to bear onward forcibly; to
crowd; to throng; to encroach.

They pressed upon him for to touch him. --Mark iii.
10.

3. To urge with vehemence or importunity; to exert a strong
or compelling influence; as, an argument presses upon the
judgment.

From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)

Press \Press\, n. [F. presse. See 4th {Press}.]
1. An apparatus or machine by which any substance or body is
pressed, squeezed, stamped, or shaped, or by which an
impression of a body is taken; sometimes, the place or
building containing a press or presses.

Note: Presses are differently constructed for various
purposes in the arts, their specific uses being
commonly designated; as, a cotton press, a wine press,
a cider press, a copying press, etc. See {Drill press}.

2. Specifically, a printing press.

3. The art or business of printing and publishing; hence,
printed publications, taken collectively, more especially
newspapers or the persons employed in writing for them;
as, a free press is a blessing, a licentious press is a
curse.

From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)

Press \Press\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Pressed}; p. pr. & vb. n.
{Pressing}.] [F. presser, fr. L. pressare to press, fr.
premere, pressum, to press. Cf. {Print}, v.]
1. To urge, or act upon, with force, as weight; to act upon
by pushing or thrusting, in distinction from pulling; to
crowd or compel by a gradual and continued exertion; to
bear upon; to squeeze; to compress; as, we press the
ground with the feet when we walk; we press the couch on
which we repose; we press substances with the hands,
fingers, or arms; we are pressed in a crowd.

Good measure, pressed down, and shaken together.
--Luke vi. 38.

2. To squeeze, in order to extract the juice or contents of;
to squeeze out, or express, from something.

From sweet kernels pressed, She tempers dulcet
creams. --Milton.

And I took the grapes, and pressed them into
Pharaoh's cup, and I gave the cup into Pharaoh's
hand. --Gen. xl. 11.

3. To squeeze in or with suitable instruments or apparatus,
in order to compact, make dense, or smooth; as, to press
cotton bales, paper, etc.; to smooth by ironing; as, to
press clothes.

4. To embrace closely; to hug.

Leucothoe shook at these alarms, And pressed Palemon
closer in her arms. --Pope.

5. To oppress; to bear hard upon.

Press not a falling man too far. --Shak.

6. To straiten; to distress; as, to be pressed with want or
hunger.

7. To exercise very powerful or irresistible influence upon
or over; to constrain; to force; to compel.

Paul was pressed in the spirit, and testified to the
Jews that Jesus was Christ. --Acts xviii.
5.

8. To try to force (something upon some one); to urge or
inculcate with earnestness or importunity; to enforce; as,
to press divine truth on an audience.

He pressed a letter upon me within this hour.
--Dryden.

Be sure to press upon him every motive. --Addison.

9. To drive with violence; to hurry; to urge on; to ply hard;
as, to press a horse in a race.

The posts . . . went cut, being hastened and pressed
on, by the king's commandment. --Esther viii.
14.

Note: Press differs from drive and strike in usually denoting
a slow or continued application of force; whereas drive
and strike denote a sudden impulse of force.

{Pressed brick}. See under {Brick}.

From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)

Press \Press\, n. (Zo["o]l.)
An East Indian insectivore ({Tupaia ferruginea}). It is
arboreal in its habits, and has a bushy tail. The fur is
soft, and varies from rusty red to maroon and to brownish
black.

From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)

Press \Press\, v. t. [Corrupt. fr. prest ready money advanced, a
loan; hence, earnest money given soldiers on entering
service. See {Prest}, n.]
To force into service, particularly into naval service; to
impress.

To peaceful peasant to the wars is pressed. --Dryden.

From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)

Press \Press\, n. [For prest, confused with press.]
A commission to force men into public service, particularly
into the navy.

I have misused the king's press. --Shak.

{Press gang}, or {Pressgang}, a detachment of seamen under
the command of an officer empowered to force men into the
naval service. See {Impress gang}, under {Impress}.

{Press money}, money paid to a man enlisted into public
service. See {Prest money}, under {Prest}, a.

From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)

press
n 1: newspaper writers and photographers [syn: {fourth estate}]
2: the state of urgently demanding notice or attention; "the
press of business matters" [syn: {imperativeness}, {insistence},
{insistency}, {pressure}]
3: printed matter in the form of newspapers or magazines [syn:
{public press}]
4: a machine used for printing [syn: {printing press}]
5: a dense crowd of people [syn: {crush}, {jam}]
6: a tall piece of furniture that provides storage space for
clothes; has a door and rails or hooks for hanging clothes
[syn: {wardrobe}, {closet}]
7: clamp to prevent wooden rackets from warping when not in use
8: any machine that exerts pressure to form or shape or cut
materials or extract liquids or compress solids [syn: {mechanical
press}]
9: a weightlift in which the barbell is lifted to shoulder
height and then smoothly lifted overhead [syn: {military
press}]
10: the act of pressing; the exertion of pressure; "he gave the
button a press"; "he used pressure to stop the bleeding";
"at the pressing of a button" [syn: {pressure}, {pressing}]
v 1: exert pressure or force to or upon; "He pressed down on the
boards"; "press your thumb on this spot"
2: force or impel in an indicated direction; "I urged him to
finish his studies" [syn: {urge}, {urge on}, {exhort}]
3: to be oppressive or burdensome; "weigh heavily on the mind",
"Something pressed on his mind" [syn: {weigh}]
4: place between two surfaces and apply weight or pressure;
"pressed flowers"
5: squeeze or press together; "she compressed her lips" [syn: {compress},
{constrict}, {squeeze}, {compact}, {contract}]
6: crowd closely; "The crowds pressed along the street"
7: create by pressing: "Press little holes into the soft clay"
8: be urgent; "This is a pressing problem"
9: exert oneself continuously, vigorously, or obtrusively to
gain an end or engage in a crusade for a certain cause or
person; be an advocate for; "The liberal party pushed for
reforms"; "She is crusading for women's rights"; "The Dean
is pushing for his favorite candidate" [syn: {crusade}, {fight},
{campaign}, {push}, {agitate}]
10: press from a plastic, as of records [syn: {press out}]
11: make strenuous pushing movements during birth to expel the
baby; "Now push hard," said the doctor to the woman"
[syn: {push}]
12: lift weights [syn: {weightlift}]
13: ask for or request earnestly; "The prophet bid all people to
become good persons" [syn: {bid}, {beseech}, {entreat}, {adjure},
{conjure}]


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