PRESS (6)

Press, n. [[F. presse. See 4th Press.]] 1. 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. 2. Specifically, a printing press.
3. 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. 4. An upright case or closet for the safe keeping of articles; as, a clothes press. Shak.
5. 5. The act of pressing or thronging forward.
In their throng and press to that last hold. Shak. 6. 6. Urgent demands of business or affairs; urgency; as, a press of engagements.
7. 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, (Naut.), as much sail as the state of the wind will permit.