–verb (used with object)

1.	to act upon with steadily applied weight or force.

2.	to move by weight or force in a certain direction or into a certain position: The crowd pressed him into a corner.

3.	to compress or squeeze, as to alter in shape or size: He pressed the clay into a ball.

4.	to weigh heavily upon; subject to pressure.

5.	to hold closely, as in an embrace; clasp: He pressed her in his arms.

6.	to flatten or make smooth, esp. by ironing: to press clothes; to press flowers in the leaves of a book.

7.	to extract juice, sugar, etc., from by pressure: to press grapes.

8.	to squeeze out or express, as juice: to press the juice from grapes.

9.	to beset or harass; afflict: He was pressed by problems on all sides.

10.	to trouble or oppress; put into a difficult position, as by depriving: Poverty pressed them hard.

11.	to urge or entreat strongly or insistently: to press for payment of a debt; to press for an answer.

12.	to emphasize or propound forcefully; insist upon: He pressed his own ideas on us.

13.	to plead with insistence: to press a claim.

14.	to urge onward; hasten: He pressed his horse to go faster.

15.	to push forward.

–verb (used without object)

16.	to manufacture (phonograph records, videodiscs, or the like), esp. by stamping from a mold or matrix.

17.	to exert weight, force, or pressure.

18.	Weightlifting. to raise or lift, esp. a specified amount of weight, in a press.

19.	to iron clothing, curtains, etc.

20.	to bear heavily, as upon the mind.

21.	(of athletes and competitors) to perform tensely or overanxiously, as when one feels pressured or is determined to break out of a slump; strain because of frustration: For days he hasn't seemed able to buy a hit, and he's been pressing.

22.	to compel haste: Time presses.

23.	to demand immediate attention.

1066

24.	to use urgent entreaty: to press for an answer.

25.	to push forward or advance with force, eagerness, or haste: The army pressed to reach the river by dawn.

26.	to crowd or throng.

27.	Basketball. to employ a press.

–noun

28.	an act of pressing; pressure.

29.	the state of being pressed.

30.	printed publications collectively, esp. newspapers and periodicals.

31.	all the media and agencies that print, broadcast, or gather and transmit news, including newspapers, newsmagazines, radio and television news bureaus, and wire services.

32.	the editorial employees, taken collectively, of these media and agencies.

33.	(often used with a plural verb) a group of news reporters, or of news reporters and news photographers: The press are in the outer office, waiting for a statement.

34.	the consensus of the general critical commentary or the amount of coverage accorded a person, thing, or event, esp. in newspapers and periodicals (often prec. by good or bad): The play received a good press. The minister's visit got a bad press.

35.	printing press.

36.	an establishment for printing books, magazines, etc.

37.	the process or art of printing.

38.	any of various devices or machines for exerting pressure, stamping, or crushing.

39.	a wooden or metal viselike device for preventing a tennis or other racket from warping when not in use.

40.	a pressing or pushing forward.

41.	a crowding, thronging, or pressing together; collective force: The press of the crowd drove them on.

42.	a crowd, throng, or multitude.

43.	the desired smooth or creased effect caused by ironing or pressing: His suit was out of press.

44.	pressure or urgency, as of affairs or business.

45.	an upright case or other piece of furniture for holding clothes, books, pamphlets, etc.

46.	Basketball. an aggressive form of defense in which players guard opponents very closely.

47.	Weightlifting. a lift in which the barbell, after having been lifted from the ground up to chest level, is pushed to a position overhead with the arms extended straight up, without moving the legs or feet.

—Idioms

48.	go to press, to begin being printed: The last edition has gone to press.

49.	press the flesh, Informal. flesh (def. 23).