PRESSINGS
Noun
pressings
plural of pressing
Source: Wiktionary
PRESSING
Press"ing, a.
Definition: Urgent; exacting; importunate; as, a pressing necessity.
– Press"ing*ly, adv.
PRESS
Press, n. (Zoöl.)
Definition: 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, v. t. Etym: [Corrupt. fr. prest ready money advanced, a loan;
hence, earnest money given soldiers on entering service. See Prest,
n.]
Definition: To force into service, particularly into naval service; to
impress.
To peaceful peasant to the wars is pressed. Dryden.
Press, n. Etym: [For prest, confused with press.]
Definition: 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, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Pressed; p. pr. & vb. n. Pressing.] Etym:
[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, 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, n. Etym: [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;
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.
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition