Presignify 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 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 noun (Anat.) The presphenoid bone.

Presphenoidal adjective (Anat.) Of or pertaining to the presphenoid bone; presphenoid.

Prespinal adjective (Anat.) Prevertebral.

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 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 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 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 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 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 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 (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 (Print.) A proof for final revision.

Pressboard 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 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 noun See Press gang , under Press .

Pressing adjective Urgent; exacting; importunate; as, a pressing necessity. -- Press"ing*ly , adverb

Pression 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 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 adjective (Zoology) Of or pertaining to the pressirosters.

Pressitant adjective [ See 4th Press .] Gravitating; heavy. [ Obsolete] Dr. H. More.

Pressive adjective Pressing; urgent; also, oppressive; as, pressive taxation. [ R.] Bp. Hall.

Pressly adverb Closely; concisely. [ Obsolete]

Pressman 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 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 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 transitive verb To pack, or prepare for packing, by means of a press.

Pressurage 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 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 noun Electro-motive force.

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 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 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 (prĕst), imperfect & past participle of Press .

Prest adjective [ Old French prest , French prêt , 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 noun [ Old French prest , French prêt , from Old French prester to lend, French prêter , 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 transitive verb To give as a loan; to lend. [ Obsolete]

Sums of money . . . prested out in loan.

E. Hall.

Prestable adjective Payable. [ Scot.]

Prestation 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 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 noun [ Old French prestre . See Priest .] A priest or presbyter; as, Prester John. [ Obsolete]

Presternum noun [ New Latin ] (Anat.) The anterior segment of the sternum; the manubrium. -- Pre*ster"nal adjective

Prestidigital adjective Nimble- fingered; having fingers fit for prestidigitation, or juggling. [ R.] "His prestidigital hand." Charles Reade.

Prestidigitation noun Legerdemain; sleight of hand; juggling.

Prestidigitator noun [ Latin praesto ready + digitus finger: confer French prestidigitateur .] One skilled in legerdemain or sleight of hand; a juggler.

Prestige noun [ French, from Latin praestigum delusion, illusion, praestigae deceptions, jugglers' tricks, probably from prae before + the root of stinguere to extinguish, originally, to prick. See Stick , v. ]
1. Delusion; illusion; trick. [ Obsolete]

The sophisms of infidelity, and the prestiges of imposture.

Bp. Warburton.

2. Weight or influence derived from past success; expectation of future achievements founded on those already accomplished; force or charm derived from acknowledged character or reputation. "The prestige of his name must go for something." Sir G. C. Lewis.

Prestigiation noun [ Latin praestigiare to deceive by juggling tricks, from praestigae . See Prestige .] Legerdemain; prestidigitation. [ Obsolete]

Prestigiator noun [ Latin praestigiator .] A juggler; prestidigitator. [ Obsolete] Dr. H. More.

Prestigiatory adjective Consisting of impostures; juggling. [ Obsolete] Barrow.