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Webster 1913 Edition


Pressing

Press′ing

,
Adj.
Urgent; exacting; importunate;
as, a
pressing
necessity
.
Press′ing-ly
,
adv.

Webster 1828 Edition


Pressing

PRESS'ING

,
ppr.
Urging with force or weight; squeezing; constraining; crowding; embracing; distressing; forcing into service; rolling in a press.
1.
a. Urgent; distressing.

PRESS'ING

,
Noun.
The act or operation of applying force to bodies. The pressing of cloth is performed by means of the screw, or by a calendar.

Definition 2024


pressing

pressing

English

Adjective

pressing (comparative more pressing, superlative most pressing)

  1. Needing urgent attention.
    • 2013, Luke Harding and Uki Goni, Argentina urges UK to hand back Falklands and 'end colonialism (in The Guardian, 3 January 2013)
      Argentinians support the "Malvinas" cause, which is written into the constitution. But they are also worried about pressing economic problems such as inflation, rising crime and corruption.
    • 1841, Charles Dickens, Barnaby Rudge, ch. 75,
      “I come on business.—Private,” he added, with a glance at the man who stood looking on, “and very pressing business.”
  2. Insistent, earnest, or persistent.
    • 1891, Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray, ch. 2,
      You are very pressing, Basil, but I am afraid I must go.
    • 1908, Joseph Conrad, "The Duel,"
      He was pressing and persuasive.

Derived terms

Quotations

  • For more examples of usage of this term, see Citations:pressing.

Translations

Noun

pressing (plural pressings)

  1. The application of pressure by a press or other means.
  2. A metal or plastic part made with a press.
  3. The process of improving the appearance of clothing by improving creases and removing wrinkles with a press or an iron.
  4. A memento preserved by pressing, folding, or drying between the leaves of a flat container, book, or folio. Usually done with a flower, ribbon, letter, or other soft, small keepsake.
  5. The extraction of juice from fruit using a press.
  6. A phonograph record; a number of records pressed at the same time.
  7. Urgent insistence.

Verb

pressing

  1. present participle of press

French

Etymology

A pseudo-anglicism.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /pʁɛ.siŋ/, /pʁe.siŋ/

Noun

pressing m (plural pressings)

  1. dry cleaning shop, a dry-cleaner's