Definition of press

• n. - 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.
• n. - To force into service, particularly into naval service; to impress.
• n. - A commission to force men into public service, particularly into the navy.
• v. - 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.
• v. - To squeeze, in order to extract the juice or contents of; to squeeze out, or express, from something.
• v. - 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.
• v. - To embrace closely; to hug.
• v. - To oppress; to bear hard upon.
• v. - To straiten; to distress; as, to be pressed with want or hunger.
• v. - To exercise very powerful or irresistible influence upon or over; to constrain; to force; to compel.
• v. - 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.
• v. - To drive with violence; to hurry; to urge on; to ply hard; as, to press a horse in a race.
• v. i. - To exert pressure; to bear heavily; to push, crowd, or urge with steady force.
• v. i. - 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.
• v. i. - To urge with vehemence or importunity; to exert a strong or compelling influence; as, an argument presses upon the judgment.
• n. - 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.
• n. - Specifically, a printing press.
• n. - 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.
• n. - An upright case or closet for the safe keeping of articles; as, a clothes press.
• n. - The act of pressing or thronging forward.
• n. - Urgent demands of business or affairs; urgency; as, a press of engagements.
• n. - A multitude of individuals crowded together; / crowd of single things; a throng.