Library / English Dictionary

PRESS

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

The act of pressing; the exertion of pressure

Example:

at the pressing of a button

Synonyms:

press; pressing; pressure

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Hypernyms ("press" is a kind of...):

push; pushing (the act of applying force in order to move something away)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "press"):

impression (the act of pressing one thing on or into the surface of another)

compressing; compression (applying pressure)

Derivation:

press (squeeze or press together)

press (place between two surfaces and apply weight or pressure)

press (exert pressure or force to or upon)

press (make strenuous pushing movements during birth to expel the baby)

press (create by pressing)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A weightlift in which the barbell is lifted to shoulder height and then smoothly lifted overhead

Synonyms:

military press; press

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Hypernyms ("press" is a kind of...):

weightlift; weightlifting (bodybuilding by exercise that involves lifting weights)

Derivation:

press (lift weights)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Any machine that exerts pressure to form or shape or cut materials or extract liquids or compress solids

Synonyms:

mechanical press; press

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("press" is a kind of...):

machine (any mechanical or electrical device that transmits or modifies energy to perform or assist in the performance of human tasks)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "press"):

cheese press (a press for shaping cheese curd)

ciderpress (a press that is used to extract the juice from apples)

garlic press (a press for extracting juice from garlic)

hydraulic press (press in which a force applied by a piston to a small area is transmitted through water to another piston having a large area)

punch press (a power driven press used to shape metal parts)

winepress (a press that is used to extract the juice from grapes)

Derivation:

press (press from a plastic)

press (create by pressing)

Sense 4

Meaning:

A machine used for printing

Synonyms:

press; printing press

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("press" is a kind of...):

machine (any mechanical or electrical device that transmits or modifies energy to perform or assist in the performance of human tasks)

Meronyms (parts of "press"):

bed (the flat surface of a printing press on which the type form is laid in the last stage of producing a newspaper or magazine or book etc.)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "press"):

standing press (a large printing press that exerts pressure vertically)

rotary press (a printing press for printing from a revolving cylinder)

cylinder press; flatbed press (a printing press where the type is carried on a flat bed under a cylinder that holds paper and rolls over the type)

Sense 5

Meaning:

Clamp to prevent wooden rackets from warping when not in use

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("press" is a kind of...):

clamp; clinch (a device (generally used by carpenters) that holds things firmly together)

Sense 6

Meaning:

A tall piece of furniture that provides storage space for clothes; has a door and rails or hooks for hanging clothes

Synonyms:

closet; press; wardrobe

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("press" is a kind of...):

article of furniture; furniture; piece of furniture (furnishings that make a room or other area ready for occupancy)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "press"):

armoire (a large wardrobe or cabinet; originally used for storing weapons)

clothes closet; clothespress (a closet where clothes are stored)

coat closet (a closet for storing outerwear)

Sense 7

Meaning:

The print media responsible for gathering and publishing news in the form of newspapers or magazines

Synonyms:

press; public press

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Hypernyms ("press" is a kind of...):

print media (a medium that disseminates printed matter)

Meronyms (parts of "press"):

press corps (a group of journalists representing different publications who all cover the same topics)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "press"):

free press (a press not restricted or controlled by government censorship regarding politics or ideology)

newspaper; paper (a daily or weekly publication on folded sheets; contains news and articles and advertisements)

mag; magazine (a periodic publication containing pictures and stories and articles of interest to those who purchase it or subscribe to it)

Sense 8

Meaning:

A dense crowd of people

Synonyms:

crush; jam; press

Classified under:

Nouns denoting groupings of people or objects

Hypernyms ("press" is a kind of...):

crowd (a large number of things or people considered together)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "press"):

snarl-up; traffic jam (a number of vehicles blocking one another until they can scarcely move)

Derivation:

press (crowd closely)

Sense 9

Meaning:

The state of demanding notice or attention

Example:

the press of business matters

Synonyms:

imperativeness; insistence; insistency; press; pressure

Classified under:

Nouns denoting stable states of affairs

Hypernyms ("press" is a kind of...):

urgency (the state of being urgent; an earnest and insistent necessity)

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Ask for or request earnestly

Example:

The prophet bid all people to become good persons

Synonyms:

adjure; beseech; bid; conjure; entreat; press

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Hypernyms (to "press" is one way to...):

plead (appeal or request earnestly)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s somebody
Somebody ----s somebody to INFINITIVE

Sense 2

Meaning:

Force or impel in an indicated direction

Example:

I urged him to finish his studies

Synonyms:

exhort; press; urge; urge on

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Hypernyms (to "press" is one way to...):

advise; counsel; rede (give advice to)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "press"):

advocate; preach (speak, plead, or argue in favor of)

bear on; push (press, drive, or impel (someone) to action or completion of an action)

hurry; rush (urge to an unnatural speed)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s somebody to INFINITIVE

Sentence examples:

Sam cannot press Sue

They press him to write the letter

Derivation:

pressure (a force that compels)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Lift weights

Example:

This guy can press 300 pounds

Synonyms:

press; weight-lift; weightlift

Classified under:

Verbs of fighting, athletic activities

Hypernyms (to "press" is one way to...):

exercise; work out (do physical exercise)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s

Derivation:

press (a weightlift in which the barbell is lifted to shoulder height and then smoothly lifted overhead)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Squeeze or press together

Example:

the spasm contracted the muscle

Synonyms:

compact; compress; constrict; contract; press; squeeze

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Hypernyms (to "press" is one way to...):

tighten (become tight or tighter)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "press"):

choke; scrag (wring the neck of)

choke; fret; gag (be too tight; rub or press)

bear down; overbear (contract the abdominal muscles during childbirth to ease delivery)

convulse (cause to contract)

convulse (contract involuntarily, as in a spasm)

strangulate (constrict a hollow organ or vessel so as to stop the flow of blood or air)

astringe (constrict or bind or draw together)

prim (contract one's lips)

choke; strangle (constrict (someone's) throat and keep from breathing)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

press; pressing (the act of pressing; the exertion of pressure)

Sense 5

Meaning:

Place between two surfaces and apply weight or pressure

Example:

pressed flowers

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Hypernyms (to "press" is one way to...):

flatten; flatten out (become flat or flatter)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "press"):

iron; iron out; press (press and smooth with a heated iron)

calender (press between rollers or plates so as to smooth, glaze, or thin into sheets)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Derivation:

pressing; press (the act of pressing; the exertion of pressure)

Sense 6

Meaning:

Press and smooth with a heated iron

Example:

she stood there ironing

Synonyms:

iron; iron out; press

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Hypernyms (to "press" is one way to...):

press (place between two surfaces and apply weight or pressure)

"Press" entails doing...:

heat; heat up (make hot or hotter)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "press"):

mangle (press with a mangle)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Sense 7

Meaning:

Exert pressure or force to or upon

Example:

press your thumb on this spot

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Hypernyms (to "press" is one way to...):

touch (make physical contact with, come in contact with)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "press"):

squeeze (press firmly)

crush; mash; squash; squeeze; squelch (to compress with violence, out of natural shape or condition)

cranch; craunch; crunch; grind (press or grind with a crushing noise)

bear down; bear down on; drag down; press down on; weigh down (exert a force with a heavy weight)

knuckle (press or rub with the knuckles)

push (press against forcefully without moving)

Sentence frames:

Something is ----ing PP
Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something
Somebody ----s something PP
Somebody ----s PP

Derivation:

press; pressing; pressure (the act of pressing; the exertion of pressure)

pressure (the force applied to a unit area of surface; measured in pascals (SI unit) or in dynes (cgs unit))

Sense 8

Meaning:

Make strenuous pushing movements during birth to expel the baby

Example:

'Now push hard,' said the doctor to the woman

Synonyms:

press; push

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Hypernyms (to "press" is one way to...):

force; push (move with force)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s

Derivation:

press (the act of pressing; the exertion of pressure)

Sense 9

Meaning:

Press from a plastic

Example:

press a record

Synonyms:

press; press out

Classified under:

Verbs of sewing, baking, painting, performing

Hypernyms (to "press" is one way to...):

cast; mold; mould (form by pouring (e.g., wax or hot metal) into a cast or mold)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Derivation:

press (any machine that exerts pressure to form or shape or cut materials or extract liquids or compress solids)

pressing (a metal or plastic part that is made by a mechanical press)

Sense 10

Meaning:

Create by pressing

Example:

Press little holes into the soft clay

Classified under:

Verbs of sewing, baking, painting, performing

Hypernyms (to "press" is one way to...):

create; make (make or cause to be or to become)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Derivation:

press (the act of pressing; the exertion of pressure)

press (any machine that exerts pressure to form or shape or cut materials or extract liquids or compress solids)

Sense 11

Meaning:

Crowd closely

Example:

The crowds pressed along the street

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Hypernyms (to "press" is one way to...):

mass (join together into a mass or collect or form a mass)

Sentence frames:

Something is ----ing PP
Somebody ----s PP

Derivation:

press (a dense crowd of people)

Sense 12

Meaning:

Exert oneself continuously, vigorously, or obtrusively to gain an end or engage in a crusade for a certain cause or person; be an advocate for

Example:

The Dean is pushing for his favorite candidate

Synonyms:

agitate; campaign; crusade; fight; press; push

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Hypernyms (to "press" is one way to...):

advertise; advertize; promote; push (make publicity for; try to sell (a product))

Verb group:

advertise; advertize; promote; push (make publicity for; try to sell (a product))

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody

Sense 13

Meaning:

To be oppressive or burdensome

Example:

Something pressed on his mind

Synonyms:

press; weigh

Classified under:

Verbs of being, having, spatial relations

Hypernyms (to "press" is one way to...):

count; matter; weigh (have weight; have import, carry weight)

Sentence frame:

Something is ----ing PP

Sense 14

Meaning:

Be urgent

Example:

This is a pressing problem

Classified under:

Verbs of being, having, spatial relations

Hypernyms (to "press" is one way to...):

be (have the quality of being; (copula, used with an adjective or a predicate noun))

Sentence frame:

Something ----s

Derivation:

pressure (the state of demanding notice or attention)

Credits

 Context examples: 

And what is the third source from which each of them sought for help against pressing danger?

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

You have no idea how he pressed me.

(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)

In medicine, it can describe a structure, such as a tumor, that presses on another part of the body, such as a nerve.

(Compression, NCI Dictionary)

When I asked him if the remittance had come, he pressed my hand and departed.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

If a brain aneurysm presses on nerves in your brain, it can cause signs and symptoms.

(Brain Aneurysm, NIH: National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute)

As Thornton got to his feet, Buck seized his mittened hand between his jaws, pressing in with his teeth and releasing slowly, half-reluctantly.

(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)

An ultrasound transducer (probe) is pressed firmly against the skin of the abdomen.

(Abdominal ultrasound, NCI Dictionary)

Obesity levels worldwide have almost tripled since 1975, making it one of the most pressing public health challenges today.

(Menu labelling linked to less fat and salt in food, University of Cambridge)

If it grows large enough, it can press against the brain, becoming life-threatening.

(Acoustic Neuroma, NIH: National Institute of Deafness and Communication Disorders)

Cholesterol is a lipid that gets bad press because of its association with cardiovascular disease.

(Researchers Zero-In on Cholesterol's Role in Cells, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)