Presidial, Presidiary Pre新id"i戢l, Pre新id"i戢斟y adjective [ Latin
praesidialis and
praesidiarius , from
praesidium a presiding over, defense, guard. See
Preside .]
Of or pertaining to a garrison; having a garrison. There are three presidial castles in this city.
Howell.
Presidiary Pre新id"i戢斟y noun [ Latin
praesidiarium .]
A guard. [ Obsolete] "Heavenly
presidiaries ."
Bp. Hall.
Presiding Pre新id"ing adjective & noun from Preside . Presiding elder .
See under 2d Elder .
Presidio Pre新i"di搗 noun [ Spanish ]
A place of defense; a fortress; a garrison; a fortress; a garrison or guardhouse.
Presignification Pre新ig`ni搭i搾a"tion noun [ ....
praesignificatio . See
Presignify .]
The act of signifying or showing beforehand.
Presignify Pre新ig"ni搭y transitive verb [
imperfect & past participle Presignified ;
imperfect & past participle Presignifying .] [ Latin
praesignificare ;
prae before +
significare to signify.]
To intimate or signify beforehand; to presage.
Presphenoid Pre新phe"noid adjective (Anat.) Situated in front of the sphenoid bone; of or pertaining to the anterior part of the sphenoid bone ( i. e. , the presphenoid bone). Presphenoid bone (Anat.) ,
the anterior part of the body of the sphenoid bone in front of the basisphenoid. It is usually a separate bone in the young or fetus, but becomes a part of the sphenoid in the adult.
Presphenoid Pre新phe"noid noun (Anat.) The presphenoid bone.
Presphenoidal Pre`sphe搖oid"al adjective (Anat.) Of or pertaining to the presphenoid bone; presphenoid.
Prespinal Pre新pi"nal adjective (Anat.) Prevertebral.
Press Press noun (Zoology) An East Indian insectivore ( Tupaia ferruginea ). It is arboreal in its habits, and has a bushy tail. The fur is soft, and varies from rusty red to maroon and to brownish black.
Press Press transitive verb [ Corrupt. from
prest ready money advanced, a loan; hence, earnest money given soldiers on entering service. See
Prest ,
noun ]
To force into service, particularly into naval service; to impress. To peaceful peasant to the wars is pressed .
Dryden.
Press Press noun [ For
prest , confused with
press .]
A commission to force men into public service, particularly into the navy. I have misused the king's press .
Shak. Press gang , or
Pressgang ,
a detachment of seamen under the command of an officer empowered to force men into the naval service. See Impress gang , under Impress . --
Press money ,
money paid to a man enlisted into public service. See Prest money , under Prest , adjective
Press Press transitive verb [
imperfect & past participle Pressed ;
present participle & verbal noun Pressing .] [ French
presser , from Latin
pressare to press, from
premere ,
pressum , to press. Confer
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. Good measure, pressed down, and shaken together.
Luke vi. 38. 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.
Milton. And I took the grapes, and pressed them into Pharaoh's cup, and I gave the cup into Pharaoh's hand.
Gen. xl. 11. 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.
Pope. 5. To oppress; to bear hard upon. Press not a falling man too far.
Shak. 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.
Acts xviii. 5. 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.
Dryden. Be sure to press upon him every motive.
Addison. 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.
Esther viii. 14. »
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.
Pressed brick .
See under Brick .
Press Press intransitive verb 1. To exert pressure; to bear heavily; to push, crowd, or urge with steady force. 2. To move on with urging and crowding; to make one's way with violence or effort; to bear onward forcibly; to crowd; to throng; to encroach. They pressed upon him for to touch him.
Mark iii. 10. 3. To urge with vehemence or importunity; to exert a strong or compelling influence; as, an argument presses upon the judgment.
Press Press noun [ French
presse . See 4th
Press .]
1. An apparatus or machine by which any substance or body is pressed, squeezed, stamped, or shaped, or by which an impression of a body is taken; sometimes, the place or building containing a press or presses. » Presses are differently constructed for various purposes in the arts, their specific uses being commonly designated; as, a cotton
press , a wine
press , a cider
press , a copying
press , etc. See
Drill press .
2. Specifically, a printing press. 3. The art or business of printing and publishing; hence, printed publications, taken collectively, more especially newspapers or the persons employed in writing for them; as, a free press is a blessing, a licentious press is a curse. 4. An upright case or closet for the safe keeping of articles; as, a clothes press . Shak. 5. The act of pressing or thronging forward. In their throng and press to that last hold.
Shak. 6. Urgent demands of business or affairs; urgency; as, a press of engagements. 7. A multitude of individuals crowded together; ... crowd of single things; a throng. They could not come nigh unto him for the press .
Mark ii. 4. Cylinder press ,
a printing press in which the impression is produced by a revolving cylinder under which the form passes; also, one in which the form of type or plates is curved around a cylinder, instead of resting on a flat bed. --
Hydrostatic press .
See under Hydrostatic . --
Liberty of the press ,
the free right of publishing books, pamphlets, or papers, without previous restraint or censorship, subject only to punishment for libelous, seditious, or morally pernicious matters. --
Press bed ,
a bed that may be folded, and inclosed, in a press or closet. Boswell. --
Press of sail ,
(Nautical) ,
as much sail as the state of the wind will permit.
Press cake Press cake A cake of compressed substance, as: in gunpowder manufacture, the cake resulting from compressing the meal powder; in the treatment of coal tar, the pressed product at various stages of the process; or, in beet-sugar manufacture, the vegetable residue after the sugar juice has been expressed.
Press proof Press proof (Print.) (a) The last proof for correction before sending to press. (b) A proof taken on a press, esp. to show impression, margins, color, etc.
Press revise Press revise (Print.) A proof for final revision.
Pressboard Press"board` noun A kind of highly sized rag paper or board, sometimes containing a small admixture of wood pulp; -- so called because used originally, as now, in presses for pressing and finishing knit underwear.
Presser Press"er noun One who, or that which, presses. Presser bar , or
Presser wheel (Knitting machine) ,
a bar or wheel which closes the barbs of the needles to enable the loops of the yarn to pass over them. --
Presser foot ,
the part of a sewing machine which rests on the cloth and presses it down upon the table of the machine.
Pressgang Press"gang` noun See Press gang , under Press .
Pressing Press"ing adjective Urgent; exacting; importunate; as, a pressing necessity. --
Press"ing*ly ,
adverb
Pression Pres"sion noun [ Latin
pressio : confer French
pression . See 4th
Press .]
1. The act of pressing; pressure. Sir I. Newton. 2. (Cartesian Philos.) An endeavor to move.
Pressiroster Pres`si斟os"ter noun [ Latin
presssus pressed (past participle of
premere ) +
rostrum beak: confer French
pressirostre . See 4th
Press .]
(Zoology) One of a tribe of wading birds ( Pressirostres ) including those which have a compressed beak, as the plovers.
Pressirostral Pres`si斟os"tral adjective (Zoology) Of or pertaining to the pressirosters.
Pressitant Pres"si暗ant adjective [ See 4th
Press .]
Gravitating; heavy. [ Obsolete]
Dr. H. More.
Pressive Pres"sive adjective Pressing; urgent; also, oppressive; as, pressive taxation. [ R.]
Bp. Hall.
Pressly Press"ly adverb Closely; concisely. [ Obsolete]
Pressman Press"man noun ;
plural Pressmen 1. One who manages, or attends to, a press, esp. a printing press. 2. One who presses clothes; as, a tailor's pressman .
Pressman Press"man noun [ See 2d
Press .]
One of a press gang, who aids in forcing men into the naval service; also, one forced into the service.
Pressor Press"or adjective (Physiol.) Causing, or giving rise to, pressure or to an increase of pressure; as, pressor nerve fibers, stimulation of which excites the vasomotor center, thus causing a stronger contraction of the arteries and consequently an increase of the arterial blood pressure; -- opposed to depressor . Landois & Stirling.
Presspack Press"pack` transitive verb To pack, or prepare for packing, by means of a press.
Pressurage Pres"sur戢ge noun [ French]
1. Pressure. 2. The juice of the grape extracted by the press; also, a fee paid for the use of a wine press.
Pressure Pres"sure noun [ Old French , from Latin
pressura , from
premere . See 4th
Press .]
1. The act of pressing, or the condition of being pressed; compression; a squeezing; a crushing; as, a pressure of the hand. 2. A contrasting force or impulse of any kind; as, the pressure of poverty; the pressure of taxes; the pressure of motives on the mind; the pressure of civilization. Where the pressure of danger was not felt.
Macaulay. 3. Affliction; distress; grievance. My people's pressures are grievous.
Eikon Basilike. In the midst of his great troubles and pressures .
Atterbury. 4. Urgency; as, the pressure of business. 5. Impression; stamp; character impressed. All saws of books, all forms, all pressures past.
Shak. 6. (Mech.) The action of a force against some obstacle or opposing force; a force in the nature of a thrust, distributed over a surface, often estimated with reference to the amount upon a unit's area. Atmospheric pressure ,
Center of pressure , etc.
See under Atmospheric , Center , etc. --
Back pressure (Steam engine) ,
pressure which resists the motion of the piston, as the pressure of exhaust steam which does not find free outlet. --
Fluid pressure ,
pressure like that exerted by a fluid. It is a thrust which is normal and equally intense in all directions around a point. Rankine. --
Pressure gauge ,
a gauge for indicating fluid pressure; a manometer.
Pressure Pres"sure noun Electro-motive force.
Pressure wires Pressure wires (Electricity) Wires leading from various points of an electric system to a central station, where a voltmeter indicates the potential of the system at those points.
Presswork Press"work` noun The art of printing from the surface of type, plates, or engravings in relief, by means of a press; the work so done. MacKellar.
Presswork Press"work` noun 1. Work done on or by a press. 2. (Metal Work) Act or process of pressing or drawing with dies or presses; also, the product of such work. 3. (Cabinetmaking) Work consisting of a series of cross-grained veneers united by glue, heat, and pressure. 4. Pottery produced by pressing clay into molds. 5. Usually
Press work The work of a press agent. [ Chiefly Theat. Cant]
Prest Prest (prĕst),
imperfect & past participle of Press .
Prest Prest adjective [ Old French
prest , French
pr皻 , from Latin
praestus ready. Confer
Presto .]
1. Ready; prompt; prepared. [ Obsolete]
All prest to such battle he was.
R. of Gloucester. 2. Neat; tidy; proper. [ Obsolete]
Tusser. Prest money ,
money formerly paid to men when they enlisted into the British service; -- so called because it bound those that received it to be ready for service when called upon.
Prest Prest noun [ Old French
prest , French
pr皻 , from Old French
prester to lend, French
pr皻er , from Latin
praestare to stand before, to become surety for, to fulfill, offer, supply;
prae before +
stare to stand. See
Pre- , and
Stand , and confer
Press to force into service.]
1. Ready money; a loan of money. [ Obsolete]
Requiring of the city a prest of six thousand marks.
Bacon. 2. (Law) A duty in money formerly paid by the sheriff on his account in the exchequer, or for money left or remaining in his hands. Cowell.
Prest Prest transitive verb To give as a loan; to lend. [ Obsolete]
Sums of money . . . prested out in loan.
E. Hall.
Prestable Prest"a搓le adjective Payable. [ Scot.]
Prestation Pres暗a"tion noun [ Latin
praestatio a performing, paying, from
praestare : confer French
prestation .]
(O. Eng. Law) A payment of money; a toll or duty; also, the rendering of a service. Burrill. Prestation money ,
a sum of money paid yearly by archdeacons and other dignitaries to their bishop.
Prester Pres"ter noun [ New Latin , from Greek ..., from ... to kindle or burn, and ... to blow up, swell out by blowing.]
1. A meteor or exhalation formerly supposed to be thrown from the clouds with such violence that by collision it is set on fire. [ Obsolete]
2. plural One of the veins of the neck when swollen with anger or other excitement. [ Obsolete]
Prester Pres"ter noun [ Old French
prestre . See
Priest .]
A priest or presbyter; as, Prester John. [ Obsolete]
Presternum Pre新ter"num noun [ New Latin ]
(Anat.) The anterior segment of the sternum; the manubrium. --
Pre*ster"nal adjective
Prestidigital Pres`ti搞ig"i暗al adjective Nimble- fingered; having fingers fit for prestidigitation, or juggling. [ R.] "His
prestidigital hand."
Charles Reade.
Prestidigitation Pres`ti搞ig`i暗a"tion noun Legerdemain; sleight of hand; juggling.
Use the search box below if you want to search in Websters only, use the search box at the right to search all of Enyclo.
