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Definition of press - 15 dictionary results
press
1 [pres]
–verb (used with object)
| 1. | to act upon with steadily applied weight or force. |
| 2. | to move by weight or force in a certain direction or into a certain position: The crowd pressed him into a corner. |
| 3. | to compress or squeeze, as to alter in shape or size: He pressed the clay into a ball. |
| 4. | to weigh heavily upon; subject to pressure. |
| 5. | to hold closely, as in an embrace; clasp: He pressed her in his arms. |
| 6. | to flatten or make smooth, esp. by ironing: to press clothes; to press flowers in the leaves of a book. |
| 7. | to extract juice, sugar, etc., from by pressure: to press grapes. |
| 8. | to squeeze out or express, as juice: to press the juice from grapes. |
| 9. | to beset or harass; afflict: He was pressed by problems on all sides. |
| 10. | to trouble or oppress; put into a difficult position, as by depriving: Poverty pressed them hard. |
| 11. | to urge or entreat strongly or insistently: to press for payment of a debt; to press for an answer. |
| 12. | to emphasize or propound forcefully; insist upon: He pressed his own ideas on us. |
| 13. | to plead with insistence: to press a claim. |
| 14. | to urge onward; hasten: He pressed his horse to go faster. |
| 15. | to push forward. |
–verb (used without object)
| 16. | to manufacture (phonograph records, videodiscs, or the like), esp. by stamping from a mold or matrix. |
| 17. | to exert weight, force, or pressure. |
| 18. | Weightlifting. to raise or lift, esp. a specified amount of weight, in a press. |
| 19. | to iron clothing, curtains, etc. |
| 20. | to bear heavily, as upon the mind. |
| 21. | (of athletes and competitors) to perform tensely or overanxiously, as when one feels pressured or is determined to break out of a slump; strain because of frustration: For days he hasn't seemed able to buy a hit, and he's been pressing. |
| 22. | to compel haste: Time presses. |
| 23. | to demand immediate attention. |
| 24. | to use urgent entreaty: to press for an answer. |
| 25. | to push forward or advance with force, eagerness, or haste: The army pressed to reach the river by dawn. |
| 26. | to crowd or throng. |
| 27. | Basketball. to employ a press. |
–noun
—Idioms| 28. | an act of pressing; pressure. |
| 29. | the state of being pressed. |
| 30. | printed publications collectively, esp. newspapers and periodicals. |
| 31. | all the media and agencies that print, broadcast, or gather and transmit news, including newspapers, newsmagazines, radio and television news bureaus, and wire services. |
| 32. | the editorial employees, taken collectively, of these media and agencies. |
| 33. | (often used with a plural verb ) a group of news reporters, or of news reporters and news photographers: The press are in the outer office, waiting for a statement. |
| 34. | the consensus of the general critical commentary or the amount of coverage accorded a person, thing, or event, esp. in newspapers and periodicals (often prec. by good or bad): The play received a good press. The minister's visit got a bad press. |
| 35. | printing press. |
| 36. | an establishment for printing books, magazines, etc. |
| 37. | the process or art of printing. |
| 38. | any of various devices or machines for exerting pressure, stamping, or crushing. |
| 39. | a wooden or metal viselike device for preventing a tennis or other racket from warping when not in use. |
| 40. | a pressing or pushing forward. |
| 41. | a crowding, thronging, or pressing together; collective force: The press of the crowd drove them on. |
| 42. | a crowd, throng, or multitude. |
| 43. | the desired smooth or creased effect caused by ironing or pressing: His suit was out of press. |
| 44. | pressure or urgency, as of affairs or business. |
| 45. | an upright case or other piece of furniture for holding clothes, books, pamphlets, etc. |
| 46. | Basketball. an aggressive form of defense in which players guard opponents very closely. |
| 47. | Weightlifting. a lift in which the barbell, after having been lifted from the ground up to chest level, is pushed to a position overhead with the arms extended straight up, without moving the legs or feet. |
| 48. | go to press, to begin being printed: The last edition has gone to press. |
| 49. | press the flesh, Informal. flesh (def. 23). |
Origin:
1175–1225; (n.) ME press(e) throng, company, trouble, machine for pressing, clothespress < OF, deriv. of presser to press < L pressāre, freq. of premere (ptp. pressus) to press (cf. rare OE press clothespress < ML pressa, n. use of fem. of pressus); (v.) ME pressen (< OF presser) < L pressāre, as above
1175–1225; (n.) ME press(e) throng, company, trouble, machine for pressing, clothespress < OF, deriv. of presser to press < L pressāre, freq. of premere (ptp. pressus) to press (cf. rare OE press clothespress < ML pressa, n. use of fem. of pressus); (v.) ME pressen (< OF presser) < L pressāre, as above

Related forms:
press⋅a⋅ble, adjective
Synonyms:
9. annoy, worry, torment, assail, besiege. 11. induce, persuade, beg, implore.
9. annoy, worry, torment, assail, besiege. 11. induce, persuade, beg, implore.
press
2 [pres]
–verb (used with object)
| 1. | to force into service, esp. naval or military service; impress. |
| 2. | to make use of in a manner different from that intended or desired: French taxis were pressed into service as troop transports. |
–noun
| 3. | impressment into service, esp. naval or military service. |
Origin:
1535–45; back formation from prest, ptp. of obs. prest to take (men) for military service, v. use of prest 2 in sense “enlistment money”
1535–45; back formation from prest, ptp. of obs. prest to take (men) for military service, v. use of prest 2 in sense “enlistment money”

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Link To press
press 1 (prěs) v. pressed, press·ing, press·es v. tr.
[Middle English pressen, from Old French presser, from Latin pressāre, frequentative of premere, to press; see per-4 in Indo-European roots.] |
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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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.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.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.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.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.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. 4. An upright case or closet for the safe keeping of articles; as, a clothes press. --Shak. 5. The act of pressing or thronging forward. In their throng and press to that last hold. --Shak. 6. Urgent demands of business or affairs; urgency; as, a press of engagements. 7. A multitude of individuals crowded together; ? crowd of single things; a throng. They could not come nigh unto him for the press. --Mark ii. 4. Cylinder press, a printing press in which the impression is produced by a revolving cylinder under which the form passes; also, one in which the form of type or plates is curved around a cylinder, instead of resting on a flat bed. Hydrostatic press. See under Hydrostatic. Liberty of the press, the free right of publishing books, pamphlets, or papers, without previous restraint or censorship, subject only to punishment for libelous, seditious, or morally pernicious matters. Press bed, a bed that may be folded, and inclosed, in a press or closet. --Boswell. Press of sail, (Naut.), as much sail as the state of the wind will permit.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Language Translation for : press
Spanish:
apretar, presionar,
German:
drücken,
Japanese:
押しつける
press (n.)
"crowd, multitude," c.1225, from O.Fr. presse (11c.), from L. pressare (see press (v.1)). Sense of "to urge, compel, force" (now mostly in adj. pressing, 1705) is recorded from 1390. Basketball defense so called from 1961. Meaning "machine for squeezing" (e.g. winepress) is recorded from 1362, from M.Fr. presse. Specific sense "machine for printing" is from 1535; extended to publishing houses by 1579 and to publishing generally (in phrases like freedom of the press) c.1680. This gradually shifted c.1800-1820 to "periodical publishing, journalism." Meaning "journalists collectively" is attested from 1926. Press agent is from 1883; press conference is attested from 1937, though the thing itself dates to at least World War I. Press secretary is recorded from 1959.
press (v.1)
"push against," c.1300, from O.Fr. preser (13c.), from L. pressare "to press," frequentative of pressus, p.p. of premere "to press, hold fast, cover, crowd, compress," from PIE *prem-/*pres- "to strike." Weight-lifting sense is attested from 1908.
press (v.2)
"force into service," 1578, alteration (by association with press (v.1)) of prest (c.1360) "engage by loan, pay in advance," especially money paid to a soldier or sailor on enlisting, from L. præstare "to provide," from præ- "before" + stare "to stand," from PIE base *sta- "to stand" (see stet). Related to præsto (adv.) "ready, available."
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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press
In addition to the idioms beginning with press, also see hard pressed; hot off the press; push (press) one's luck; push (press) someone's buttons. Also see under push.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
Cite This Source
Copyright © 2009, Dictionary.com, LLC. All rights reserved.

