pressing

pressing
    adj 1: compelling immediate action; "too pressing to permit of
           longer delay"; "the urgent words `Hurry! Hurry!'";
           "bridges in urgent need of repair" [syn: {pressing},
           {urgent}]
    n 1: the act of pressing; the exertion of pressure; "he gave the
         button a press"; "he used pressure to stop the bleeding";
         "at the pressing of a button" [syn: {press}, {pressure},
         {pressing}]
    2: a metal or plastic part that is made by a mechanical press
    

Press \Press\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Pressed}; p. pr. & vb. n.
   {Pressing}.] [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.
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            Good measure, pressed down, and shaken together.
                                                  --Luke vi. 38.
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   2. To squeeze, in order to extract the juice or contents of;
      to squeeze out, or express, from something.
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            From sweet kernels pressed,
            She tempers dulcet creams.            --Milton.
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            And I took the grapes, and pressed them into
            Pharaoh's cup, and I gave the cup into Pharaoh's
            hand.                                 --Gen. xl. 11.
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   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.
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   4. To embrace closely; to hug.
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            Leucothoe shook at these alarms,
            And pressed Palemon closer in her arms. --Pope.
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   5. To oppress; to bear hard upon.
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            Press not a falling man too far.      --Shak.
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   6. To straiten; to distress; as, to be pressed with want or
      hunger.
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   7. To exercise very powerful or irresistible influence upon
      or over; to constrain; to force; to compel.
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            Paul was pressed in the spirit, and testified to the
            Jews that Jesus was Christ.           --Acts xviii.
                                                  5.
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   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.
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            He pressed a letter upon me within this hour.
                                                  --Dryden.
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            Be sure to press upon him every motive. --Addison.
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   9. To drive with violence; to hurry; to urge on; to ply hard;
      as, to press a horse in a race.
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            The posts . . . went cut, being hastened and pressed
            on, by the king's commandment.        --Esther viii.
                                                  14.
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   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.
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   {Pressed brick}. See under {Brick}.
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Pressing \Press"ing\, a.
   Urgent; exacting; importunate; as, a pressing necessity. --
   {Press"ing*ly}, adv.
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93 Moby Thesaurus words for "pressing":
      abetment, actuating, acute, animating, blandishment, burning,
      buttonholing, cajolement, cajolery, causal, causative, clamant,
      clamorous, coactive, coaxing, compelling, compulsatory, compulsive,
      compulsory, concentration, constraining, critical, crucial, crying,
      decoction, demanding, directive, distillation, draining, driving,
      dunning, encouragement, exacting, exigent, exorbitant, expression,
      extortionate, goading, grasping, grave, high-pressure,
      high-priority, impelling, imperative, imperious, important,
      importunate, importunateness, importunity, impulsive, inducive,
      infusion, insistence, insistent, instance, instant, irresistible,
      loud, major, momentous, motivating, motivational, motive, moving,
      nagging, needling, persistent, pertinacious, pestering, pivotal,
      plaguing, plying, portentous, pressure, pricking, prodding,
      profound, rendering, rendition, restraining, serious, significant,
      soaking, spurring, squeezing, steeping, taxing, teasing, urgency,
      urgent, urging, vital, wheedling