press

Everyday

1. To press is to push firmly on something: press a button. tree →
2. To press clothes is to iron them flat. tree →
3. To press someone is to try hard to make them do something. tree →
4. A press is a machine that pushes or squeezes things, or that prints. tree →
5. The press means newspapers, TV news and the people who write them. tree →

In the lessons

In technology, «press the button», «press Enter». In first aid, press on a bleeding cut with a clean cloth to slow the bleeding. In science, pressing increases pressure; flowers can be pressed flat to dry them. In everyday life, «press-ups» (UK) / «push-ups» (US) are exercises. Phrases: «press on» (keep going), «pressed for time» (in a hurry), «under pressure».

Examples

• Press the green button to start. tree →
• Press firmly on the cut with a clean cloth. tree →
• We pressed flowers in a heavy book. tree →
• Don't press too hard with your pencil. tree →
• Dad pressed his shirt for the wedding. tree →
• The news was in the press. tree →
• We were pressed for time, so we ran. tree →
• Press on — you're nearly finished! tree →
• ‘Press your finger on the latch, then push and the door opens.’ tree →

Note

Regular: pressed. The noun «pressure» is the force of pressing. «The press» (newspapers) takes «the». Do not confuse «press» with «dress».

In Jewish tradition

In the Torah it usually means a wine-press or oil-press, where grapes or olives are squeezed. As a verb in Job and the Psalms it means to push down hard, as God's waves press on the sufferer. Hosea says the threshing-floor and wine-press will fail the people.

Interpretation. Offerings and tithes must come from the grain and the press. Giving the first of the harvest honors God as the giver. The prophets use an empty press as a sign of punishment for turning away from God.

Examples

• Thou shalt not delay to offer of the fulness of thy harvest, and of the outflow of thy presses. (Torah EXO.22.29, JPS 1917) tree →
• And the gift which ye set apart shall be reckoned unto you, as though it were the corn of the threshing-floor, and as the fulness of the wine-press. (Torah NUM.18.27, JPS 1917) tree →
• Therefore thou shalt say unto them: When ye set apart the best thereof from it, then it shall be counted unto the Levites as the increase of the threshing-floor, and as the increase of the wine-press. (Torah NUM.18.30, JPS 1917) tree →
• Thy wrath lieth hard upon me, and all Thy waves Thou pressest down. (Writings PSA.88.8, JPS 1917) tree →
• Canst thou draw out leviathan with a fish-hook? or press down his tongue with a cord? (Writings JOB.40.25, JPS 1917) tree →
• The threshing-floor and the wine-press shall not feed them, and the new wine shall fail her. (Prophets HOS.9.2, JPS 1917) tree →

Note

Regular: pressed. The noun «pressure» is the force of pressing. «The press» (newspapers) takes «the». Do not confuse «press» with «dress».