push definition | Dictionary.com

push

[poo

sh]

–verb (used with object)

1.	to press upon or against (a thing) with force in order to move it away.

2.	to move (something) in a specified way by exerting force; shove; drive: to push something aside; to push the door open.

3.	to effect or accomplish by thrusting obstacles aside: to push one's way through the crowd.

4.	to cause to extend or project; thrust.

5.	to press or urge to some action or course: His mother pushed him to get a job.

6.	to press (an action, proposal, etc.) with energy and insistence: to push a bill through Congress.

7.	to carry (an action or thing) toward a conclusion or extreme: She pushed the project to completion.

8.	to press the adoption, use, sale, etc., of: to push inferior merchandise on customers.

9.	to press or bear hard upon, as in dealings with someone: The prosecutor pushed him for an answer.

10.	to put into difficulties because of the lack of something specified (usually fol. by for): to be pushed for time.

11.	Slang. to peddle (illicit drugs).

12.	Informal. to be approaching a specific age, speed, or the like: The maestro is pushing ninety-two.

13.	Photography. to modify (film processing) to compensate for underexposure.

–verb (used without object)

14.	to exert a thrusting force upon something.

15.	to use steady force in moving a thing away; shove.

16.	to make one's way with effort or persistence, as against difficulty or opposition.

17.	to extend or project; thrust: The point of land pushed far out into the sea.

18.	to put forth vigorous or persistent efforts.

19.	Slang. to sell illicit drugs.

20.	to move on being pushed: a swinging door that pushes easily.

–noun

21.	the act of pushing; a shove or thrust.

22.	a contrivance or part to be pushed in order to operate a mechanism.

23.	a vigorous onset or effort.

24.	a determined advance against opposition, obstacles, etc.

25.	a vigorous and determined military attack or campaign: The big push began in April.

26.	the pressure of circumstances, activities, etc.

27.	Informal. persevering energy; enterprise.

28.	Informal. a crowd or company of people.

29.	British. dismissal from a job; sack.

30.	Australian Slang. a gang of hoodlums.

—Verb phrases

31.	push around, to treat contemptuously and unfairly; bully: She's not the kind of person who can be pushed around.

32.	push off, Informal. to go away; depart: We stopped at Denver for the night and were ready to push off again the following morning.

33.	push on, to press forward; continue; proceed: The pioneers, despite overwhelming obstacles, pushed on across the plains.

—Idioms

34.	push one's luck. luck (def. 12).

35.	when or if push comes to shove, when or if matters are ultimately confronted or resolved; when or if a problem must be faced; in a crucial situation: If push comes to shove, the government will impose quotas on imports.

Origin:
1250–1300; ME pushen, poshen, posson (v.) < MF pousser, OF po(u)lser < L pulsāre. See pulsate

Synonyms:
3. shoulder. 5. persuade, impel.

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Link To push

push (pŏŏsh)

v. pushed, push·ing, push·es

v. tr.

To apply pressure against for the purpose of moving: push a shopping cart through the aisles of a market.
To move (an object) by exerting force against it; thrust or shove.
To force (one's way): We pushed our way through the crowd.
To urge forward or urge insistently; pressure: push a child to study harder.
To bear hard upon; press.
To exert downward pressure on (a button or keyboard, for example); press.
To extend or enlarge: push society past the frontier.
Informal To approach in age: is pushing 40 and still hasn't settled down.
Slang
1. To promote or sell (a product): The author pushed her latest book by making appearances in bookstores.
2. To sell (a narcotic) illegally: push drugs.
Sports To hit (a ball) in the direction toward the dominant hand of the player propelling it, as to the right of a right-handed player.

v. intr.

To exert outward pressure or force against something.
To advance despite difficulty or opposition; press forward.
To expend great or vigorous effort.

The act of pushing; thrust: gave the door a swift push.
A vigorous or insistent effort toward an end; a drive: a push to democracy.
A provocation to action; a stimulus.
Informal Persevering energy; enterprise.

Phrasal Verb(s):
push around Informal To treat or threaten to treat roughly; intimidate.
push off Informal To set out; depart: The infantry patrol pushed off before dawn.
push onTo continue or proceed along one's way: The path was barely visible, but we pushed on.

Idiom(s):
push paper Informal To have one's time taken up by administrative, often seemingly petty, paperwork: spent the afternoon pushing paper for the boss.

Idiom(s):
push up daisies Slang To be dead and buried: a cemetery of heroes pushing up daisies.

Idiom(s):
when/if push comes to shoveAt a point when or if all else has been taken into account and matters must be confronted, one way or another: "We extol the virtues of motherhood and bestow praise on the self-sacrificing homemaker but when push comes to shove, we give her little recognition for what she does" (Los Angeles Times).

[Middle English pusshen, from Old French poulser, pousser, from Latin pulsāre, frequentative of pellere, to strike, push; see pel-⁵ in Indo-European roots.]

Synonyms: These verbs mean to press against something in order to move it forward or aside: push a baby carriage; wind propelling a sailboat; shove a tray across a table; thrust the package into her hand. See Also Synonyms at campaign.
Antonym: pull

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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Push

Push\, n. A crowd; a company or clique of associates; a gang. [Slang]

Push

Push\, n. [Probably F. poche. See Pouch.] A pustule; a pimple. [Obs. or Prov. Eng.] --Bacon.

Push

Push\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Pushed; p. pr. & vb. n. Pushing.] [OE. possen, pussen, F. pousser, fr. L. pulsare, v. intens. fr. pellere, pulsum, to beat, knock, push. See Pulse a beating, and cf. Pursy.]

1. To press against with force; to drive or impel by pressure; to endeavor to drive by steady pressure, without striking; -- opposed to draw.

Sidelong had pushed a mountain from his seat. --Milton.

2. To thrust the points of the horns against; to gore.

If the ox shall push a manservant or maidservant, . . . the ox shall be stoned. --Ex. xxi. 32.

3. To press or urge forward; to drive; to push an objection too far. " To push his fortune." --Dryden.

Ambition pushes the soul to such actions as are apt to procure honor to the actor. --Spectator.

We are pushed for an answer. --Swift.

4. To bear hard upon; to perplex; to embarrass.

5. To importune; to press with solicitation; to tease.

To push down, to overthrow by pushing or impulse.

Push

Push\, v. i. 1. To make a thrust; to shove; as, to push with the horns or with a sword. --Shak.

2. To make an advance, attack, or effort; to be energetic; as, a man must push in order to succeed.

At the time of the end shall the kind of the south push at him and the king of the north shall come against him. --Dan. xi. 40.

War seemed asleep for nine long years; at length Both sides resolved to push, we tried our strength. --Dryden.

3. To burst pot, as a bud or shoot.

To push on, to drive or urge forward; to hasten.

The rider pushed on at a rapid pace. --Sir W. Scott.

Push

Push\, n. 1. A thrust with a pointed instrument, or with the end of a thing.

2. Any thrust. pressure, impulse, or force, or force applied; a shove; as, to give the ball the first push.

3. An assault or attack; an effort; an attempt; hence, the time or occasion for action.

Exact reformation is not perfected at the first push. --Milton.

When it comes to the push, 'tis no more than talk. --L' Estrange.

4. The faculty of overcoming obstacles; aggressive energy; as, he has push, or he has no push. [Colloq.]

Syn: See Thrust.

Language Translation for : push

Spanish: empujar,

German: stoßen,

Japanese: 押す

More Translations »

push

[from the operation that puts the current information on a stack, and the fact that procedure return addresses are saved on a stack] (Also PUSH /push/ or PUSHJ /push'J/, the latter based on the PDP-10 procedure call instruction.)
1. To put something onto a stack or PDL. If one says that something has been pushed onto one's stack, it means that the Damoclean list of things hanging over ones's head has grown longer and heavier yet. This may also imply that one will deal with it _before_ other pending items; otherwise one might say that the thing was `added to my queue'.
2. vi. To enter upon a digression, to save the current discussion for later. Antonym of pop; see also stack, PDL.

Jargon File 4.2.0
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push (v.)

c.1300, from O.Fr. poulser, from L. pulsare "to beat, strike, push," frequentative of pellere (pp. pulsus) "to push, drive, beat" (see pulse (1)). The noun is first recorded 1570. Meaning "approach a certain age" is from 1937. Meaning "promote" (1714) led to pusher "peddler of illegal drugs," first recorded 1935 in prison slang (earlier it meant "prostitute," 1923). Pushy "forward, aggressive" first recorded 1936. To push (someone) around is from 1923. Phrase push comes to shove is from 1958; to push (one's) luck is from 1911. To push the envelope in figurative sense is late 1980s. Push-up, the exercise, is from 1906; to push up daisies "be dead and buried" is from c.1860. Push-button (n.) is from 1898; adj. sense "characterized by the use of push-buttons" is from 1946.

push
1. To put something onto a stack or pdl.
Opposite: "pop".
2. push media.
[The Jargon File]
(1997-04-10)

PUSH
People United to Serve Humanity

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