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."
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." "And I took the grapes, and pressed them into Pharaoh's cup, and I gave the cup into Pharaoh's hand."
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."
5.To oppress; to bear hard upon. "Press not a falling man too far."
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."
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." "Be sure to press upon him every motive."
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." 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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