press
nounUK, US /pɹɛs/ · AU, NZ /pɹes/
Etymology From Middle English presse (“throng, crowd, clothespress”), partially from Old English press (“clothespress”) (from Medieval Latin pressa) and from Old French presse (Modern French presse) from Old French presser (“to press”), from Latin pressāre, from pressus, past participle of premere (“to press”). Cheifly displaced native Middle English thring (“press, crowd, throng”) (from Old English þring (“a press, crowd, anything that presses or confines”)). see English thring
12 senses
- 1An instance of applying pressure; an instance of pressing.
- 2A device used to apply pressure to an item.
- 3A crowd.
- 4A printing machine.
- 5The print-based media (both the people and the newspapers).
- 6A publisher.
- 7An enclosed storage space (e.g. closet, cupboard).
- 8An exercise in which weight is forced away from the body…
- 9An additional bet in a golf match that duplicates an…
- 10Pure, unfermented grape juice.
- 11A commission to force men into public service…
- 12In personology, any environmental factor that arouses a…
1
An instance of applying pressure; an instance of pressing.
- Connecting to the service is almost idiot proof and takes just a few button presses.2004 10, “Maximum PC”, in (Please provide the book title or journal name), page 25:
- a slaloming winger putting lumpen defenders on their backsides, or even a sneaky centre-forward, using his boundless energy to lead the press and force mistakes.2020 August 7, Jonathan Liew, “Phil Foden stars to offer Manchester City glimpse of multiple futures”, in The Guardian:
2
A device used to apply pressure to an item.
- a flower press
- a cheese press
3
A crowd.
- And he sought to see Jesus who he was; and could not for the press, because he was little of stature.1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Luke 19:3:
- The press in the square grew. Something would happen now.1962, Olivia Manning, The Spoilt City; republished as The Balkan Trilogy, 1990, →ISBN, page 327:
1 more example
- Imagine the press of humanity in a crowded Parisian brasserie, circa the era when Lagerfeld would have been patronizing such joints.2015 March 10, Tim Banks, “Chanel Fall 2015 Ready-to-Wear Collection”, in Vogue:
4
A printing machine.
- Stop the presses!
- That books are pouring off the world’s presses at unprecedented rates is a fact often alluded to as a flood that is inundating libraries and the book trades.1972, Carol A. Nemeyer, Scholarly Reprint Publishing in the United States, New York, N.Y.: R. R. Bowker Co., →ISBN, page 8:
5
Collective The print-based media (both the people and the newspapers).
- according to a member of the press
- This article appeared in the press.
2 more examples
- From another point of view, it was a place without a soul. The well-to-do had hearts of stone; the rich were brutally bumptious; the Press, the Municipality, all the public men, were ridiculously, vaingloriously self-satisfied.1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter XXII, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:
- British journalists shun complete respectability, feeling a duty to be ready to savage the mighty, or rummage through their bins. Elsewhere in Europe, government contracts and subsidies ensure that press barons will only defy the mighty so far.2013 August 10, Lexington, “Keeping the mighty honest”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8848:
6
A publisher.
7
Especially, In Ireland and Scotland An enclosed storage space (e.g. closet, cupboard).
- Put the cups in the press.
- Put the ironing in the linen press.
1 more example
- But then I had the [massive] flintlock by me for protection. ¶[…]The linen-press and a chest on the top of it formed, however, a very good gun-carriage; and, thus mounted, aim could be taken out of the window at the old mare feeding in the meadow below by the brook, and a 'bead' could be drawn upon Molly, the dairymaid, kissing the fogger behind the hedge,[…].1879, R[ichard] J[efferies], chapter 1, in The Amateur Poacher, London: Smith, Elder, & Co., […], →OCLC:
8
Hobbies, Lifestyle, Sports, Weightlifting An exercise in which weight is forced away from the body by extension of the arms or legs.
- This is the fourth set of benchpresses. There will be five more; then there will be five sets of presses on an inclined bench[…].1974, Charles Gaines, George Butler, Pumping Iron: The Art and Sport of Bodybuilding, page 22:
9
Gambling, Games, Golf, Hobbies, Lifestyle, Sports 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.
- The way a press works is, say you're two down after six holes; you can then start another bet (in effect another match) from the seventh hole, for the same amount, starting all square on the seventh tee.2012, Gary McCord, Golf For Dummies:
1 more example
- When a side is two or more points down in the match, they may request a press.2014, Nicolae Sfetcu, Sports Betting, page 181:
10
Pure, unfermented grape juice.
- I would like some Concord press with my meal tonight.
11
A commission to force men into public service, particularly into the navy.
- I have misused the king's press.c. 1597 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The First Part of Henry the Fourth, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene ii]:
12
Human sciences, Psychology, Sciences In personology, any environmental factor that arouses a need in the individual.
- The environmental comfort category is illustrative of cases in which there are low environmental presses matched against a number of personal competences.2009, Allison E. Smith, Ageing in Urban Neighbourhoods, page 88:
- Derived terms
147 terms
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