press

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Contents

English [edit]

Pronunciation [edit]

Etymology 1 [edit]

Middle English presse (“throng, crowd, clothespress”), partially from Old English press (“clothespress”), from Medieval Latin pressa, and partially from Old French presse (Modern French presse) from Old French presser (“to press”), from Latin pressāre from pressus, past participle of premere "to press". Displaced native Middle English thring (“press, crowd, throng”) (from Old English þring (“a press, crowd, anything that presses or confines”)).

Noun [edit]

press (countable and uncountable; plural presses)

  1. (countable) A device used to apply pressure to an item.
    ...a flower press.
  2. (uncountable) A collective term for the print based media (both the people and the newspapers)
    This article appeared in the press.
    ...according to a member of the press...
  3. (countable) A publisher.
  4. (countable) (especially in Ireland and Scotland) An enclosed storage space (eg closet, cupboard).
    Put the cups in the press.
  5. (countable) A printing machine.
    Stop the presses!
  6. (countable, weightlifting) An exercise in which weight is forced away from the body by extension of the arms or legs.
    • 1974, Charles Gaines & George Butler, Pumping Iron: The Art and Sport of Bodybuilding, page 22.
      This is the fourth set of benchpresses. There will be five more; then there will be five sets of presses on an inclined bench […]
  7. (countable, wagering) An additional bet in a golf match that duplicates an existing (usually losing) wager in value, but begins even at the time of the bet.
    He can even the match with a press.
  8. (countable) Pure, unfermented, unaltered grape juice.
    I would like some Concord press with my meal tonight.
Synonyms [edit]
Derived terms [edit]
Translations [edit]
device used to apply pressure
printed media
publisher — see publisher
enclosed storage space
printing machine
exercise

Etymology 2 [edit]

Middle English pressen (“to crowd, thring, press”), from Old French presser (“to press”) (Modern French presser) from Latin pressāre from pressus, past participle of premere "to press". Displaced native Middle English thringen (“to press, crowd, throng”) (from Old English þringan (“to press, crowd”)), Middle English thrasten (“to press, force, urge”) (from Old English þrǣstan (“to press, force”)), Old English þryscan (“to press”), Old English þȳwan (“to press, impress”).

Verb [edit]

press (third-person singular simple present presses, present participle pressing, simple past and past participle pressed or prest[1])

  1. (transitive, intransitive) to exert weight or force against, to act upon with with force or weight
  2. (transitive) to compress, squeeze
    to press fruit for the purpose of extracting the juice
  3. (transitive) to clasp, hold in an embrace; to hug
    She took her son, and press'd
    The illustrious infant to her fragrant breast (Dryden, Illiad, VI. 178.)
  4. (transitive) to reduce to a particular shape or form by pressure, especially flatten or smooth
    to press cloth with an iron
    to press a hat
  5. (transitive) (sewing) To flatten a selected area of fabric using an iron with an up-and-down, not sliding, motion, so as to avoid disturbing adjacent areas.
  6. (transitive) to drive or thrust by pressure, to force in a certain direction
    to press a crowd back
  7. (transitive, obsolete) to weigh upon, oppress, trouble
    He turns from us;
    Alas, he weeps too! Something presses him
    He would reveal, but dare not.-Sir, be comforted. (Fletcher, Pilgrim, I. 2.)
  8. (transitive) to force to a certain end or result; to urge strongly, impel
  9. (transitive) to hasten, urge onward
  10. (transitive) to urge, beseech, entreat
    God heard their prayers, wherein they earnestly pressed him for the honor of his great name. (Winthrop, Hist. New England, II. 35)
  11. (transitive) to lay stress upon, emphasize
    If we read but a very little, we naturally want to press it all; if we read a great deal, we are willing not to press the whole of what we read, and we learn what ought to be pressed and what not. (M. Arnold, Literature and Dogma, Pref.)
  12. (transitive, intransitive) to throng, crowd
  13. (transitive, obsolete) to print
Quotations [edit]
Derived terms [edit]
Translations [edit]
to apply pressure
to indicate that a story is being printed
The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.
Translations to be checked

See also [edit]

References [edit]

  1. ^ Entry for the imperfect and past participle in Webster's dictionary
  • press in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911
  • “press” in OED Online, Oxford University Press, 1989.

Anagrams [edit]

Swedish [edit]

Pronunciation [edit]

Noun [edit]

press c

  1. a press; a tool that applies pressure (to make things flat, to make juice)
  2. a (printing) press
    stoppa pressarna
    stop the presses
  3. the press (newspapers, journalism as a branch of society)
  4. (mental) pressure
  5. a muscle exercise that applies pressure

Declension [edit]

Declension of press
singular plural
Common indefinite definite indefinite definite
nominative press pressen pressar pressarna
genitive press pressens pressars pressarnas

Related terms [edit]

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