GNU Dico
From GNU Collaborative International Dictionary of English, version 0.54:
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.”
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Good measure, pressed down, and shaken together.
-- Luke vi. 38.
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2. To squeeze, in order to extract the juice or contents of; to squeeze out, or express, from something.
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From sweet kernels pressed,
She tempers dulcet creams.
-- Milton.
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And I took the grapes, and pressed them into Pharaoh's cup, and I gave the cup into Pharaoh's hand.
-- Gen. xl. 11.
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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”.
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4. To embrace closely; to hug.
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Leucothoe shook at these alarms,
And pressed Palemon closer in her arms.
-- Pope.
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5. To oppress; to bear hard upon.
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Press not a falling man too far.
-- Shak.
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6. To straiten; to distress; as, “to be pressed with want or hunger”.
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7. To exercise very powerful or irresistible influence upon or over; to constrain; to force; to compel.
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Paul was pressed in the spirit, and testified to the Jews that Jesus was Christ.
-- Acts xviii. 5.
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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”.
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He pressed a letter upon me within this hour.
-- Dryden.
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Be sure to press upon him every motive.
-- Addison.
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9. To drive with violence; to hurry; to urge on; to ply hard; as, “to press a horse in a race”.
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The posts . . . went cut, being hastened and pressed on, by the king's commandment.
-- Esther viii. 14.
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☞ 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.
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Pressed brick. See under {Brick}.
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From GNU Collaborative International Dictionary of English, version 0.54:
Pressing, a. Urgent; exacting; importunate; as, “a pressing necessity”. -- Press"ing*ly, adv.
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