| 释义 |
▪ I. push, n.1|pʊʃ|
Also 6 pussh(e, 6–7 pushe, 8 Sc. pouse.
[f. push v.: cf. F. pousse (15th c.).]
I.
1. a. An act of pushing; a continued application of force or pressure to move a body away from the agent; a shove, thrust. In early quotations, A blow, stroke, knock (obs.).
1582Stanyhurst æneis ii. (Arb.) 59 Pyrrhus with fast wroght twibbil in handling Downe beats with pealing thee doors... A broad gap yawning with theese great pusshes is opned. 1613Purchas Pilgrimage ii. x. (1614) 156 Here might you see the strong walls shaking and falling, with the pushes of the yron ramme. 1692Dryden Cleomenes i. i, When his spacious hand Had rounded this huge ball of Earth and Seas To give it the first push, and see it roll Along the vast abyss. 1711Addison Spect. No. 57 ⁋3 She gives him a Push with her Hand in jest, and calls him an impudent Dog. a1796Burns Answ. Ep. fr. Tailor ii, I gi'e their wames a random pouse. 1841Lane Arab. Nts. (Rtldg.) 66 Just at the edge of the well, he gave him a push and threw him into it. 1885Manch. Exam. 28 Sept. 5/1 [It] is on the edge of a precipice, and..it needs but a push to send it toppling into the gulf below.
b. spec. in Billiards. A stroke in which the ball is pushed instead of being struck with the cue, or in which the cue, the cue ball, and the object ball are all in contact at the time the stroke is made; also, in Cricket and Golf, a stroke in which the ball is pushed instead of being hit; a push-stroke.
1873‘Cavendish’ & Bennett Billiards 309 Push strokes may be divided into the half-push and the push. 1888R. H. Lyttelton in A. G. Steel et al. Cricket ii. 72 There is..a good length ball on the legs to which this push can be usefully applied if the batsman..cannot make use of the sweep to leg. 1893Daily News 16 Mar. 5/5 He would..prohibit what is called the ‘push’, and he would enact a rule by which the red ball on being put down from the billiard spot during a break should be placed on the pyramid spot. 1898K. S. Ranjitsinhji With Stoddart's Team (ed. 4) xii. 233 [MacLaren]..chiefly obtained his runs by his ‘push’ in the slips. 1921G. R. C. Harris Few Short Runs iii. 58 [W. G. Grace] introduced what was then a novel stroke,..viz., the push to leg with a straight bat off the straight ball. 1976Evening Post (Nottingham) 14 Dec. 18/4 Both were caught by wicketkeeper Ved Raj off Lal's bowling, Fletcher playing an indeterminate defensive push.
c. fig. An exertion of influence to promote a person's advancement by one who is ‘at his back’.
1655Ld. Norwich Let. 1 June in Nicholas Papers (Camden) II. 318, I shall say much more to you..concerning this pushe (give me leave soe to call it). For whoe is there yt now pusheth not for his interest? 1793Capt. Bentinck in Ld. Auckland's Corr. (1862) III. 48 Your Lordship will judge whether in this you can give me a push. 1889Century XXXVIII. 156 It is money or ‘push’ which secured the place that should have been awarded to merit.
d. Paired with pull, esp. to convey the concept of a force.
1878Proc. R. Soc. Edin. IX. 610 The ear does distinguish, as it were, between push and pull on the tympanum. 1932Andrade & Huxley Introd. to Science iii. 63 Electric and magnetic forces act across perfect emptiness, as if with invisible pulls and pushes. 1966L. Basford Sci. of Movement xii. 33/1 We usually think of a force as the push or pull needed to move something.
e. to give (a person) the push, to eject (a person), to throw out; to dismiss, esp. from employment. colloq.
1899C. Rook Hooligan Nights ii. 23 He was employed as a chucker-out... His regular business..was ‘giving mugs and other barmy sots the push out of pubs’. 1923T. E. Lawrence Let. 23 Mar. (1938) 404 Nothing else showed up, after I got the push from the R.A.F. 1933D. L. Sayers Murder must Advertise ix. 158 He told me to string him along. And afterwards..to give him the push. 1957W. Camp Prospects of Love iii. iii. 160 Mummy had her..to work here..but she was quite hopeless..and Mummy gave her the push. 1968‘P. Hobson’ Titty's Dead xv. 155 His landlady's given him the push. 1976S. Barstow Right True End iii. xiv. 209 ‘Hedley Graham has started a month's notice.’ ‘You don't mean he's..?’ ‘Got the push? No. He gave Maurice Kendall his resignation on Friday.’
2. A thrust of a weapon, or of the horn of a beast. Also fig.
1577Holinshed Chron. II. 1835/2 At the Tourney .xij. strokes, wyth the sword, three pushes with the punchion staffe. 1589Late Voy. Sp. & Port. 27 Being charged by ours..they stood..euen to the push of the pike, in which charge and at the push, Captaine Robert Piew was slaine. 1590Spenser F.Q. i. iii. 35 So great was the puissance of his push, That from his sadle quite he did him beare. 1641Milton Animadv. ii. Wks. 1851 III. 209 Repaire the Achelaian horne of your Dilemma how you can, against the next push. 1712Lond. Gaz. No. 4966/2 He Attack'd the Enemy with push of Bayonet. 1849James Woodman iv, It was nothing but push and thrust. 1849Macaulay Hist. Eng. vii. II. 170 He..will not suffer them to go on a hunting party, where there would be risk of a push from a stag's horn. 1907Athenæum 13 July 47/2 ‘All the fine pushes were caught in the wood,’ or hide, of the shields.
†3. An attack, a vigorous onset. Also fig. Obs.
1563Golding Cæsar iii. xix. (1565) 77 They were not able to abyde one pushe [unum impetum] of us, but by and by tourned their backs. 1672Wycherley Love in Wood ii. i, I will not stay the push. They come! 1677Earl of Orrery Art of War 27 If the Push be vigorous, and the Resistance considerable. 1691Luttrell Brief Rel. (1857) II. 264 The Irish army consisted of near 30,000 men, and 'twas beleiv'd would try one push. 1781Cowper Expost. 706 The push And feeble onset of a pigmy rush. 1800Hist. Ind. in Asiat. Ann. Reg. 24/2 The Major determined..to make one push at them, that their escape, at least, might be prevented.
4. a. An effort, a vigorous attempt; a turn, bout, ‘go’; chiefly in phrases at one push, at the first push, to make a push (at, for, to do something), upon the push. Now rare.
1596Nashe Saffron Walden Wks. (Grosart) III. 40 Many men that are able to pay their debts doo not..pay them presently at one push. 1641Milton Reform. i. Wks. 1851 III. 10 Exact Reformation is not perfited at the first push. 1721Perry Daggenh. Breach 80 A great Number of Hands..wanting to make a Push as it was call'd, to turn the Tides out of the Levels. 1737Bracken Farriery Impr. (1757) II. 168 All their Art cannot make a thick-winded Horse run as long Pushes as one with..a better Wind. 1746Chesterfield Let. 8 Feb., He [Demosthenes]..at last made his strong push at the passions of his hearers. 1815Jane Austen Emma ix, The consciousness of having made a push,—of having thrown a die. 1818Cobbett Pol. Reg. XXXIII. 21 The Rump made a grand push to make over the City of Westminster to the Whigs.
b. A determined advance; a pushing forward; in phr. to make a push. Const. at or for. Also, spec., a military advance (first widely used in the latter stages of the war of 1914–18). Also fig.
1803Nelson in Nicolas Dispatches (1845) V. 192, I wish I could know to a certainty where they are bound. I think..they will make a push at Messina. 1828Sir W. Napier Penins. War vi. iii. (Rtldg.) I. 282 Making a ‘push’ of 400 miles. 1849Macaulay Hist. Eng. v. I. 557 Argyle resolved to make a bold push for Glasgow. 1857Livingstone Trav. iii. 64 We made a push for the lake. 1916Punch 7 June 407 (caption) The far-reaching effect of the Russian push. 1916F. M. Ford Let. 7 Sept. (1965) 75 The Big Push was too overwhelming for one to notice details; it was like an immense wave full of debris. 1918J. M. Grider War Birds (1927) 260 Henry told us that there is going to be a big push shortly. Push? What's a push to us? That's for the Poor Bloody Infantry to worry over. We push twice a day, seven days in the week. 1929E. W. Springs Above Bright Blue Sky 69 I've shed many a tear over you. I heard that you were killed during the push in front of Amiens. 1935Sun (Baltimore) 15 July 1/8 A marked push toward early completion of the Administration's ‘must’ program was expected. 1942R.A.F. Jrnl. 30 May 33 The only original officer of the Wing who had been in the first push. 1964Wall St. Jrnl. 5 Feb. 1 We're stepping up our drive on all fronts..and that includes our whole Northern push on housing..and voter registration. 1976S. Barstow Right True End iii. xiv. 223 They joined up together in gangs in that war—Pals—and in a big push they sometimes died together. 1978Time 3 July 17/1 The top-priority items are the kind of antitank and antiaircraft weapons that could be used to repulse a Soviet push across the border.
c. slang. (See quot.)
1873Slang Dict., Push, a robbery or swindle. ‘I'm in this push’, the notice given by one magsman to another that he means to ‘stand in’.
d. The act of selling drugs illicitly (cf. push v. 13 c).
1973J. Wainwright High-Class Kill 58 The push was made in one of the city's public parks. The main pusher was one of those men nobody ever really sees.
5. Pressure; esp. in Building, the thrust of an arch or the like.
1715Desaguliers Fires Impr. 29 The Air that was in the Room..had been driven away up the Chimney, by the Push of the External Air. 1772Hutton Bridges 99 Push, of an arch, the same as drift, shoot, &c. 1807― Course Math. II. 269 The area of the triangular bank of earth is increased in the same proportion as its horizontal push is decreased. 1841Civil Eng. & Arch. Jrnl. IV. 167/1 The ‘push’ is thrown upon the cast-iron abutting piece. 1897Allbutt's Syst. Med. IV. 633 There is no forward push of the rib.
6. fig. The pressure of affairs or circumstances; the condition of being ‘pushed’; a case or time of stress or urgency; a critical juncture, an extremity, a ‘pinch’; esp. in phrases at († for) a push, in an emergency; to come, put, bring to the push, i.e. to an extremity, hence to actual trial; cf. point n.1 22 b. Sometimes fig. from 3.
1570–83Foxe A. & M. 729/1 He..closely kept himselfe betweene both, till the pushe came that his helpe might serue at a pinch. 1599Sandys Europæ Spec. (1632) 202 To what a miserable push have they driven the World. 1644in 11th Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm. App. vii. 102 The extreame push of affaires that the associated Countyes are now put to. 1671Milton P.R. iv. 470 If thou..wilt prolong All to the push of Fate. 1691Wood Ath. Oxon. II. 22 Chillingworth..was a subtile and quick Disputant, and would several times put the Kings Professor to a push. a1700B. E. Dict. Cant. Crew, At a Push, at a pinch or strait. 1764Mem. G. Psalmanazar 187 Till it came to the solemn push. 1842J. Aiton Domest. Econ. (1857) 146 When a push comes, he procures additional hands to get the hay up, or the oats in, or the potatoes planted. 1883S. C. Hall Retrospect I. 325 It was a hard push to make a newspaper pay.
7. Determined effort to get on; persevering energy; enterprise, esp. that which is inconsiderate of the rights of others.
1855Bagehot Lit. Stud. (1879) I. 31 Like what is called ‘push’ in a practical man, Sydney Smith's style goes straight to its object. 1881in Nodal & Milner Lancs. Gloss. (1882), Push, energy, determination. He'll never make nowt on it—he's no push in him. 1893Peel Spen Valley 56 The stolid indifference and want of push and enterprise which has characterised agriculturists.
II. Concrete senses.
8. a. A ‘press’ of people; a crowd, throng. Now rare exc. as in 9.
1718C. Higgin True Disc. 13 He is a..thieves' watchman, that lies scouting..when and where there is a push, alias an accidental crowd of people. 1754J. Poulter Discov. 30 In order to be out of the push or throng. 1830Moncrieff Hrt. London II. 1 He's as quiet as a dummy⁓hunter [pickpocket] in a push by Houndsditch. 1866G. Meredith Vittoria xxix, A great push of men emerged from one of the close courts. 1923T. E. Lawrence Let. 21 May (1938) 422, I met your cousin once, at a push in London: had no proper talk of him. 1955D. W. Maurer in Publ. Amer. Dial. Soc. xxiv. 174 A crowd is, to a pickpocket, a tip, a press, a crush, or a push... ‘Three troupes is up against this push already.’
b. A moving school or shoal of fish. dial.
1876Robinson Whitby Gloss., Skooal, or Push, a shoal of fish pursuing their course.
9. slang. A ‘crowd’ or band of thieves; a gang of convicts at penal labour (Farmer); esp. in Australia, A gang of larrikins; hence, Any company or party; a ‘crowd’, ‘set’, ‘lot’. Also attrib.
1884M. Davitt Prison Diary (1885) I. x. 95 The stocking-knitting party [in prison]..became known..as the ‘upper ten push’. 1890Melbourne Argus 26 July 4/3 ‘Doolan's push’ were a party of larrikins working, or supposed to be working, in a potato paddock near by. 1893Sydney Morn. Her. 26 June 8/7 Day by day the new ‘push’ has become more daring. From chaffing drunken men and insulting defenceless women, the company has taken to assault, to daylight robbery. 1898E. E. Morris Austral Eng. s.v., Its use began with the larrikins, and spread, until now it often means clique, set, party, and even jocularly so far as ‘the Government House Push’. 1901J. Flynt World of Graft 16, I like him, an' the push likes him, 'cause he gives us rope. 1902Blackw. Mag. July 40/1, I was recruiting for my ‘push’ down in Durban. I used to go and get the fellows off the ships as they came in. 1903R. Bedford True Eyes & Whirlwind xx. 127 The nightly push club assembled. 1911[see nit n.2 1]. 1914Sat. Even. Post 4 Apr. 12/2 ‘The whole push is hungry, Kid,’ he said. ‘I'm hungry.’ 1926Kipling Debits & Credits 307 You're from Sydney, ain't you?..I know how your push talk, well enough. 1927[see mob n.1 5 b]. 1964C. Mackenzie Life & Times III. 182 Presently there burst into the room half a dozen of the rowing ‘push’. 1967Sunday Mail Mag. (Brisbane) 12 Nov. 3/1 Experts on push warfare in Sydney in the early 1870's rated The Rocks Push as the No. 1 team of larrikins in the city. 1973Nation Rev. (Melbourne) 31 Aug. 1436/1 He was portrayed almost as another Keynes—or, at the very least, the intellectual peer of the Friedman-Galbraith-Samuelson push.
10. A flush of water. dial.
1886Cole S.W. Lincs. Gloss., Push (pronounced short, as Rush), a pool or puddle. The watter all stood in pushes. We'd such a push of watter agen our door, we had to let it off. 1894Daily News 1 Nov. 3/5 The heavy push of water, which had long been looked forward to by anglers. 1895Ibid. 7 Oct. 9/3 The heavy downpour in the early hours of yesterday morning ought to cause a ‘push’ of land water.
11. A contrivance or part which is pushed or simply pressed in order to operate a mechanism; a push-button.
1889Sci. Amer. 18 May 313/1 The spring push, which was secured higher up on the door,..could be tampered with by patients so inclined. c1890F. E. Powell Electric Bells 43 A push might be described as an automatic switch, as it is self-stopping when the pressure is removed. 1902Daily Chron. 27 June 2/6 Push-tap valves..do not require a key, the driver simply having to press the push and the water runs off.
12. attrib. and Comb.: see push-.
▸ Computing. A technology used on networks which makes it possible for data to be sent without being specifically requested by the recipient; spec. designating an Internet service in which a provider supplies regularly updated information to a subscriber in chosen areas of interest. Usu. attrib., esp. in push technology.
1995InfoWorld 25 Sept. 61 Both agents employ ‘push technology’ designed to increase speed and reduce network traffic. 1997Computer Weekly 10 July (Internet Unravelled Suppl.) 11/1 You could have a push channel of information..that sends you stuff on sport, another on stock market prices, another on computer news stories, and so on. 1998Computer Weekly 3 Sept. 41/3 The once-hot push technologies are already moving out of the marketing limelight in favour of the latest bandwagons, Dynamic HTML, XML and portal integration. 1998T. Sheldon Encycl. Networking (new ed.) 817 Push is much more efficient. You choose the content to be delivered by filling out a subscription form. The push server then knows what you need, thus reducing Web browsing and request packets.
▪ II. push, n.2 Obs. exc. dial.|pʊʃ|
Also 6 poushe, powsh(e, pushe, 6–7 pussh(e.
[Origin obscure.
Possibly a use of push n.1, with the sense ‘something that pushes or is pushed out or up’: But it occurs 30 years earlier than any of the known senses of that word, as well as with spellings not found there, though occurring in the verb; and it is difficult to separate it entirely from MDu. and MLG. pûst, mod.Du. puist, pimple, blister, E.Fris. pǖske (dim. of *pûs) pustule, pock, blister, and many related words, from an app. onomatopoeic stem pūs- or pūst- to inflate, swell up; coinciding also in form with the stem of L. pust-ula, pus-ula, blister, pimple, pustule. If the word entered Eng. from any source at an early date as puss, or pousse, it might share the phonetic history of F. pousser, and become push, like push v.]
A pustule, pimple, boil.
1533Elyot Cast. Helthe iii. vii. (1541) 59 b, Sometyme blacke poushes or boyles, with inflamation and moch peyne. 1542Udall Erasm. Apoph. 71 Ἐξανθήµατα, that is, litle pymples or pushes. 1547Boorde Brev. Health xxxv. 18 b, Asaphati is the greke worde. In Englyshe they be named whelkes or pushes the which be read. 1552Huloet, Byle, botch, or powsh. Ibid., Powshe, Atheroma, Epinyctides..Tubercula..a little powshe. 1598Sylvester Du Bartas ii. i. iii. Furies (1641) 98/2 The pining Phthisik fils them all with pushes Whence a slowe spowt of cor'sie matter gushes. 1665G. Harvey Advice agst. Plague 4 Risings like blisters, or small tumors and pushes, some red, others yellow. 1710T. Fuller Pharm. Extemp. 422 Very useful for Pushes, Pimples, and Blemishes in the Face. 1822–24Good's Study Med. (ed. 4) II. 41 In vernacular language, this species [a common phlegmon] is denominated a push. 1843Sir T. Watson Princ. & Pract. Physic II. 796 A very common..pustular disease of the skin, usually called boil, in some parts of England a push, and by the learned furunculus.
▪ III. † push, int. (n.3) Obs.
= pish, tush, int.
1605Tryall Chev. ii. ii. in Bullen Old Pl. (1884) III. 294 Push! meet me. Ferdinand, I will. 1607Shakes. Timon iii. vi. 119, 2, Know you the quality of Lord Timons fury? 3 Push, did you see my Cap? 1624Trag. Nero i. ii. in Bullen Old Pl. (1882) I. 18 Push, it could not be like to this.
B. n. An exclamation of ‘push’; = pish n. to make a push at, to treat with disdain.
1599Shakes. Much Ado v. i. 38 There was neuer yet Philosopher, That could endure the tooth-ake patiently, How euer they haue writ the stile of gods, And made a push at chance and sufferance.
▪ IV. push, v.|pʊʃ|
Forms: α. 4 ? pusse, pa. tense puste; 4–5 posshe(n; 5–6 pusshe, 6 puszshe, pushe, powshe, 7– push. β. 6–9 Sc. pouss, 7–9 Sc. pouse, 9 dial. poose |puːs|, powse |paʊs|. See also poss v.
[a. F. pousser, with palatalization of s (cf. brush, cuish, quash, with F. brosse, cuisse, casser); in OF. polser, poulser (:—L. pulsāre, freq. of pellĕre to drive, push, beat), which gradually supplanted bouter, in OF. to strike, thrust, push (see butt v.1, and cf. sense 3 below), as in Eng. push has supplanted put v.1 in its early senses ‘thrust, butt’.]
I. Of physical action.
1. a. trans. To exert force upon or against (a body) so as to move it away; to move by such exertion of force; to shove, thrust, drive (the opposite of to draw or pull). In early use comprehending the force of impact as well as of pressure, but now spec. applied to the communication of force by pressure in contact.
a1300K. Horn (Harl. MS.) 1079 Horn þe wyket puste, þat hit open fluste. c1400Rom. Rose 4625, I..that was posshed in every side, That I nist where I might abyde. [Cf. ibid. 4479 s.v. poss v. 1.] c1440York Myst. xlvi. 38 Þei lusshed hym, þei lasshed hym, þei pusshed hym, þei passhed hym. 1562J. Rowbotham Playe of Cheastes E v, If he pushe his Paune one steppe more. 1601Shakes. Jul. C. v. v. 25 It is more worthy, to leape in our selues, Then tarry till they push vs. 1611― Wint. T. ii. iii. 125 Paul. I pray you doe not push me, Ile be gone. 1755Johnson s.v. Push-pin, A child's game in which pins are pushed alternately. 1833Manuf. Metal (Cab. Cycl.) II. 269 Any one of them..being pushed the least degree too much or too little. 1852Mrs. Stowe Uncle Tom's C. xvii, The hindermost pushing the front ones faster than they would have gone of themselves. 1859Tennyson Geraint & Enid 1122 The door, Push'd from without, drave backward to the wall. 1893Labour Commission, Glossary 65/2 The tram containing the coal is sometimes pushed by the boy, and sometimes pulled by a pony. Mod. The nurse was pushing the perambulator and met the gardener pushing a wheel-barrow. The gradient being steep, an additional locomotive is here put on behind to push the train.
b. with an adverb or advb. phrase, expressing the direction, or way, in which the thing is moved, e.g. to push back, down, in, out, onward, open, etc. to push up daisies: see daisy n. 1 c.
c1450in Aungier Syon (1840) 262 If any..schofte, pusche, or sperne any suster from her withe armes or scholders. 1530Palsgr. 671/1 He pusshed me awaye as harde as he coulde..il me rebouta, or me repulsa darriere luy tant quil peut. 1611Shakes. Wint. T. ii. iii. 73 Will you not push her out? 1611Bible Ps. xliv. 5 Through thee will wee push downe our enemies. 1663Sir G. Mackenzie Relig. Stoic xiii. (1685) 126 The Rose being pous'd up by the salt nitre which makes it vegetative. 1791Mrs. Radcliffe Rom. Forest i, He was turning to go out when the man suddenly pushed him back, and he heard the door locked upon him. 1871B. Stewart Heat §131 As the liquid became heated its vapour pushed the mercury before it along the tube. 1897Allbutt's Syst. Med. IV. 812 The mercury is pushed through the system much quicker than under ordinary circumstances. 1898Watts-Dunton Aylwin i. i, She turned the key and pushed open the door.
fig.1781Cowper Hope 659 To parry and push by God's word With senseless noise. ― Expost. 690 The word of prophesy, those truths divine..Are never long vouchsaf'd, if push'd aside With cold disgust or philosophic pride.
c. To drive or repulse by force of arms; to drive in the chase.
1634Sir T. Herbert Trav. 27 The Mallabars pushing them [our skiffs] and throwing fire-balls at vs. 1709London Gaz. 4585/2 They charged our Horse, and broke in upon us; we rallied, and pushed them. 1722De Foe Col. Jack (1840) 238 After we had thus pushed the enemy's cavalry. 1735Somerville Chase iii. 492 The tenacious Crew Hang on the Track,..And push him [the fox] many a League.
d. To move, throw forward, or advance (a force) against opposition or difficulty.
1748Anson's Voy. ii. xi. 254 He intended to have pusht two hundred of his men on shore in his boats. Ibid. xiv. 286 To hinder us from pushing our men on shore. 1800Wellington in Gurw. Desp. (1834) I. 21 Some campoos and pultans, which have been indiscreetly pushed across the Kistna. 1879Dixon Windsor II. xv. 158 Henry pushed his scouts along the road towards Windsor.
e. absol. To thrust others out (of one's way); to jostle, shove.
1735Somerville Chase ii. 236 Alternate they preside, and justling push To guide the dubious Scent. 1817J. Scott Paris Revisit. (ed. 4) 13 Rather than pay three-pence to one of the men on the quays, they stumbled, and panted, and pushed, under a load which was heavier than it need to have been.
f. to push round the ale, etc., to push the bottle, to push the liquor from one to another in convivial drinking.
1788J. Woodforde Diary 20 Aug. (1927) III. 44 Mr. Atthill being Chairman pushed the Bottle about pretty briskly. 1829Lytton Disowned 7 Come, Mim, push round the ale. 1847L. Hunt Men, Women, & B. II. iv. 55 Thomson could push the bottle like a regular bon vivant.
g. trans. or absol., in Billiards. To make a push-stroke: see push n.1 1 b. Also in Cricket.
1873‘Cavendish’ & Bennett Billiards 314 To push, the cue must be placed all but touching the player's ball. 1893Cricket 26 Oct. 442/1 Box..has a style of getting off his ground when a ball is directed to his legs, with the intention of..‘pushing’ it to the ‘leg’. 1920D. J. Knight in P. F. Warner Cricket 34 If he [sc. the batsman] is pushing the ball away to long leg, he must face long leg. 1963A. Ross Australia 63 iii. 76 He moved quick enough up the wicket to Titmus, but having got there was content to push.
h. absol. push off: Of a person in a boat (and transf. of the boat), To push oneself away from the bank or the like; to shove off; fig. (slang or colloq.), to begin a game, etc. Also, fig., to depart, go away (freq. imp.). Also without off and to push along. So to push out i.e. into the open water. Also, to push away i.e. from the shore.
1726Swift Gulliver iv. x, Then, getting into my Canoo, I pushed off from Shore. 1740Proc. Sessions of Peace London & Middlesex May 164/1 He..heard somebody a cursing and swearing, and a Woman..say, d―n it, push off, or go off. 1836W. Irving Astoria III. 227 As M‘Kenzie's canoes were about to push off. 1839Thirlwall Greece IV. 119 The two Athenian galleys suddenly pushed out. 1865J. Thomson Sunday up River v. ii, We push off from the bank. a1909Mod. We're all ready to play; push off! 1918K. E. Harriman Wine, Women & War (1926) 39 Grand day to be pushing off for Bordeaux. 1923Wodehouse Inimitable Jeeves xvii. 241 He helped himself absently to a handful of my cigars and pushed off. 1931A. Christie Sittaford Mystery xxiii. 192, I shall be pushing along now. So long. 1947Wodehouse Full Moon vii. 141 I'll be pushing along. 1949J. B. Priestley Delight 231 This is my view, not yours. Push off! 1955G. Freeman Liberty Man i. i. 21 Goodnight, Maur. I'll be pushin'. I've 'ad a day. 1964R. Jeffries Embarrassing Death iii. 25 Bill finished his drink. ‘I'd better be pushing.’ 1973E. Page Fortnight by Sea viii. 89 She must be quite certain to leave when the girl with the frizzy hair decided to push off. 1976National Observer (U.S.) 26 June 16/4 A man in a small sailboat pushes away from the shore of the Atlantic and never is seen again.
i. (See quot.)
1867Smyth Sailor's Word-bk., To Push, to move a vessel by poles.
j. intr. To sit abaft an oar and propel a boat with forward strokes: as, to push down a stream.
k. to push (someone) around, to move or cause (someone) to be moved roughly from place to place, to manhandle. Freq. fig. (orig. U.S.), to browbeat, bully, domineer over. Also, to push about.
1923H. C. Witwer in Cosmopolitan Aug. 45/2 Look at the pushing around he's getting because he hauled off and inherited a million. 1930D. Runyon in Liberty 8 Nov. 24/1 After..Johnny gets on the strong-arm squad, he never misses a chance to push Big Jule around. 1942R. Chandler High Window iii. 29 If anybody tries to push Linda around, he'll have to push me around first. 1949‘M. Innes’ Journeying Boy i. 12 The father doted on the son, the son pushed the father around. 1963D. Ballantyne in C. K. Stead N.Z. Short Stories (1966) 153 The Aussie..has made it bloody clear he won't be pushed about. 1964M. Argyle Psychol. & Social Probl. xiv. 177 Resistance to change on the part of industrial workers is reduced if they play some part in making the decision and its augmentation. Not only is the feeling of being pushed about avoided, but those concerned are able to set up the new social system to their satisfaction. 1973‘J. Patrick’ Glasgow Gang Observed xix. 170 The Glasgow gang boy feels that he is being pushed around, that he has no control over the social conditions which predetermine his future. 1974N. Freeling Dressing of Diamond 93 Thought you could come and push me about. Not the first. But I'm still here. 1976National Observer (U.S.) 26 June 6/2 America has pushed these people around too much, too long, and it's natural that they feel resentment and react violently.
l. Phr. to push (someone's) face in, to punch (someone) on the nose. slang.
1930‘R. Crompton’ William—The Bad ix. 228 I'll go and find the blighter and push his face in for him. I never heard of such beastly cheek!
m. Fig. phr. to push the boat out, to be generous, esp. in paying for rounds of drinks. slang (orig. Naut.).
1937J. Curtis You're in Racket, Too iii. 39 This bloke you're meeting up the Old Jacket and Vest to-night, let him push the boat out, the bastard. Surely he can pester for a tightener if you're hungry. 1946J. Irving Royal Navalese 140 Push the boat out, to, a boatwork term used to imply paying for a ‘round of drinks’. 1962‘J. Le Carré’ Murder of Quality i. 10 ‘Fielding's giving another dinner party tonight.’ ‘He's pushing the boat out these days.’ 1977B. Pym Quartet in Autumn x. 90 ‘Pushing the boat out, aren't you?’ said Norman, with unusual jollity, as Ken topped up his glass.
n. Phr. when push comes to shove and varr., when action must back up threats; when the worst comes to the worst. colloq. (orig. N. Amer.)
1958Murtagh & Harris Cast First Stone vii. 105 Some..judges..talk nice and polite... Then, when push comes to shove, they say ‘Six months in the workhouse’. 1970Calgary (Alberta) Herald 4 May 57/1 If push comes to shove, make good the threat. 1977National Observer (U.S.) 22 Jan. 12/4 When—to use common parlance—push comes to shove, I have a great deal of faith in American youth. 1981Guardian 10 Jan. 19/8 (heading) Push comes to shove.
2. a. intr. To thrust with a pointed weapon, stick, or the like (const. at); to tilt, fence; to use a spear, short sword, poniard, etc. Obs. or arch.
[1362Langl. P. Pl. A. vii. 96 Mi plouh-pote schal be my pyk and posshen atte Rootes, And helpe my coltre to kerue.] 1599Shakes. Hen. V, ii. i. 103 As manhood shal compound: push home. 1600Holland Livy xxvii. xxviii. 650 Others..pushed at them with punchion poles. 1698Farquhar Love & Bottle ii. ii, The Duke of Burgundy..pushes the finest of any man in France. 1700Dryden Pal. & Arc. iii. 511 That none shall dare With shortned Sword to stab in closer War:..Nor push with biting Point, but strike at length. 1791Cowper Iliad iv. 383 Let the green In years..Push with the lance. 1847Tennyson Princess v. 522 But Arac rode him down: And Cyril seeing it, push'd against the Prince.
fig.a1715Burnet Own Time an. 1674 (1823) II. 57 When duke Lauderdale was hotly pushed at, he then promised..that he would avoid all former errors. 1738Neal Hist. Purit. IV. 577 A bold and forward man, who pushed at every thing that might ruin the Church.
†b. trans. To stab with a weapon; to ‘strike’. Also fig. (cf. put v.1 3 b). Obs.
1694Martens' Voy. Spitzbergen iv. in Acc. Sev. Late Voy. ii. (1711) 160 For the most part they do not much mind where they launce or push them [whales]. 1728Vanbrugh & Cib. Prov. Husb. iv. i, Man. Right! there you push'd him home.
3. intr. To thrust or butt with the horns: chiefly biblical. Also trans. = put v.1 1 b. Now dial.
1535Coverdale Exod. xxi. 29 Yf the oxe haue bene vsed to push in tymes past. [So 1611; 1885 R.V. gore.] Ibid., 2 Chron. xviii. 10 With these [horns] shalt thou puszshe at the Syrians [1611 push the Syrians], tyll thou brynge them to naughte. 1611Bible Exod. xxi. 32 If the ox shall push [Coverdale gorre] a manservant or a maidservant. 1697Dryden Virg. Georg. iii. 343 They fence, they push, and pushing, loudly roar. 1888E. Laws Little Eng. App. 421 Push, to butt like a cow.
4. trans. To thrust (a weapon); to thrust (a limb, organ, root, etc.) into some position; to put (anything) out in a projecting manner. to push a face: see face n. 7 b.
1692Diary Siege Lymerick Pref. A ij b, With so poor a Handful to push so bold a Sword, and carry so intire a Victory. 1765A. Dickson Treat. Agric. (ed. 2) 115 Some kinds of weeds push their roots very far down... If there are any stones in the land, they push their roots among the stones. 1778Johnson Let. to Mrs. Thrale 15 Oct., I never could get anything from her but by pushing a face. 1894R. Bridges Feast of Bacchus i. 376 What has he to do to push his nose into our affairs?
5. a. trans. To thrust out, stick out (an organ or part). Of a plant: To send forth (a shoot, runner, root); also, to put forth (fruit).
1614D. Dyke Myst. Self-Deceiv. xxvii. 320 Some like Snailes push out their hornes till they be touched. 1768Tucker Lt. Nat. (1834) II. 405 [To] manifest its vigour by continual efforts to push forth more fruit of good works. 1786Abercrombie Gard. Assist. Feb. 32 In melon plants pushing runners: pinch off the end of the runners. 1849Florist 252 To encourage the plants to push fresh roots.
b. intr. To stick out, project. Of a plant or stem: = put v.1 9.
1720De Foe Capt. Singleton iii, A.. cape..pushing out a long way into the sea. 1855Browning Childe Roland xii, If there pushed any ragged thistle-stalk Above its mates, the head was chopped. 1858Glenny Gard. Every-day Bk. 80/2 Those plants which are pushing strongly will do all the better if the ground is forked between them.
6. intr. To exert pressure upon something in the way described in 1.
1613Shakes. Hen. VIII, v. iv. 16 We may as well push against Powles as stirre 'em. 1855Tennyson Brook 83, I..push'd at Philip's garden-gate. Mod. Do not push against me. The fence is weak; if you push against it it will give way. Push with all your might; all push at once!
7. a. intr. To make one's way with force or persistence (as against difficulty or opposition). With various adverbs and preps.; esp. to push on, to press forward, to advance with continued effort. Also, to push along.
1718Rowe tr. Lucan vi. 269 Now push we on, disdain we now to fear, A thousand Wounds let ev'ry Bosom bear. 1768Byron Narr. Loss Wager 122, I pushed into the next wigwam upon my hands and knees. 1804Monson in Owen Wellesley's Desp. (1877) 526 The enemy pushed after and many were either killed or wounded. 1806J. Beresford Miseries Hum. Life ii. xi, Pushing through the very narrow path of a very long field of very high corn. 1850Tennyson In Mem. liii, For fear divine Philosophy Should push beyond her mark. 1879Froude Cæsar xiv. 222 Cæsar, after a short rest, pushed on and came under their walls. 1892Gardiner Stud. Hist. Eng. 11 He pushed inland to the Kentish Stour. 1899Allbutt's Syst. Med. VIII. 600 Both the horny and granular layers push downwards wherever they can. 1902‘Mark Twain’ in Harper's Weekly 6 Dec. 5/1 Push along, cabby, push along—no great lot of time to spare.
b. to push one's way, to make one's way by thrusting obstacles or opponents aside.
1781Cowper Expost. 17 Whom fiery suns..Forbid in vain to push his daring way To darker climes. 1884R. W. Church Bacon iii. 61 The shrewd and supple lawyers..who unscrupulously pushed their way to preferment. Mod. He pushed his way to the front of the crowd.
II. Of action other than physical.
8. a. intr. To put forth vigorous effort or endeavour; to press, be urgent in request or persuasion; to aim at with endeavour to attain; to try or work strenuously for, press for; to seek actively, labour after.
1595Daniel Civ. Wars i. xxv. 30 Glory won in great exploits his mind did elevate..Which made him push at what his issue gate. 1601in Moryson Itin. ii. ii. ii. (1617) 171 The King of Spaine meanes to make this place [Kinsale] the seate of the Warre..[in order] to push for England. 1700Congreve Way of World iii. v, Will he be Importunate, Foible, and push? 1719De Foe Crusoe (1840) II. xv. 319, I had no occasion to push at a winter journey of this kind. 1728Ramsay Gen. Mistake 150 Macsomno pushes after praise. 1738Neal Hist. Purit. IV. 88 While the Presbyterians were pushing for their Covenant uniformity. 1765Sterne Tr. Shandy VII. xxviii, By pushing at something beyond that, I have brought myself into such a situation as [etc.]. 1844G. Dodd Textile Manuf. i. 13 The manner in which the manufacturers ‘pushed’ for orders. 1975N.Y. Times 10 Apr. 29/2 Former Governor Terry Sanford reportedly was one of the men pushing hardest for the primary repeal.
b. trans. To approach (a certain age). colloq.
1937S. V. Benét in Sat. Even. Post 18 Sept. 42/4 I'd kind of like to beat out Ike Leavis... To hear him talk, you'd think nobody had ever pushed ninety before. 1953R. Chandler Long Good-Bye xxiii. 148 When you're young..you can absorb a lot of punishment. When you are pushing forty you don't snap back the same way. 1959Housewife Oct. 134/2 Maria's a bit old... Pushing seventy, you know. 1962Woman's Own 18 Aug. 16/1 All these women, either pushing 40, or looking back at it without too much regret, have been good box-office for years. 1976National Observer (U.S.) 2 Oct. 12/5 Flicka is pushing 50, but she still wears her frosted hair shoulder length.
9. trans. To urge, press, incite, impel, drive (a person, etc.) to do something, or to († upon) some course; to urge or egg on.
a1578Lindesay (Pitscottie) Chron. Scot. (S.T.S.) II. 95 His wickit and ewill consall..allurit him and puffit [v.r. poussit] him fast fordwart to fight witht Inglischemen. 1640R. Baillie Canterb. Self-convict. 48 Nothing..but that which conscience would pouse any man upon all hazards to avow. 1705tr. Bosman's Guinea 332 Pushed on by the King of Ardra, he marched against the People of Fida. 1722De Foe Plague (Rtldg.) 128 Apprehensions..that desperation should push the People upon Tumults. 1730A. Gordon Maffei's Amphith. 249 Then..might the Wild-Beasts be seen pushed on to fight. 1761Hume Hist. Eng. II. xxviii. 138 He pushed his master to seek an occasion of quarrel with that monarch. 1812J. Baillie Siege iii. ii, 'Tis a strange thing that women, who can't fight themselves, should so eagerly push us to the work. 1862Goulburn Pers. Relig. iv. xi. (1873) 347 Shrinking from being pushed to greater lengths in Religion than we are prepared to go.
10. a. To impel (a horse, etc.) to greater speed; to urge on; spec. to urge (it) forward beyond its natural speed or endurance; also in reference to other animals, a steam-ship, etc. Also, with along.
1727Boyer Dict. Royal 11, To push (or put) on a Horse, Pousser, lancer, piquer un Cheval. 1735Somerville Chase iii. 445 As I behold Each lovely nymph..Push on the gen'rous steed. 1832Standish Maid of Jaen 18 The steeds with urgent speed were push'd 'Till lost in distance all was hush'd. 1845A. M. Hall Whiteboy iv, The car-driver managed to push his poor starveling to a canter. 1907Daily Chron. 14 Sept. 5/2 Mr. Cunard denied that there had been any effort whatever to push the vessel [the Lusitania]. 1911H. B. Wright Winning of Barbara Worth xxix. 411 Give your horse a drink but don't wait to rest. You can push him from now on as hard as you like. 1962Which? Oct. (Car Suppl.) 118/2 It was the back wheels which eventually broke away if the car was pushed too far. 1971‘H. Calvin’ Poison Chasers vii. 90 Dai was pushing the Land Rover all out, but it was still too slow for me. 1972‘I. Drummond’ Frog in Moonflower 18 The driver pushed the bus along... It was doing well over sixty now.
b. To force (a thing) into more intense action. Now rare.
1756P. Browne Jamaica 41 Orpiment..when pushed by a strong fire yields a great quantity of acrid volatile particles. 1797Encycl. Brit. (ed. 3) IV. 603 By pushing the heat after the oil comes over. 1839Ure Dict. Arts, etc. 805 The fire, at first moderate, is pushed till the cucurbits are red hot.
c. Bridge. To try to force (an opponent) into a higher and more doubtful contract by overcalling him. Also intr.
1927M. Work Contract Bridge 149 Push, to overbid for the purpose of inducing the opponents to assume a losing contract. 1934G. F. Hervey Mod. Contract Bridge xxii. 247 If you know a player is determined to play every hand, you can ‘push’ much more successfully against him than against the player who knows when to leave off bidding and when to double. 1959Listener 24 Dec. 1118/2 When East accepted the invitation to game he was pushed beyond game. 1980Guardian Weekly 21 Dec. 23/5 West cunningly bid only 5S[pades] in the hope of being allowed to play in 6S when he was pushed there.
11. a. To press forward, prosecute, or follow up, press with vigour and insistence (some action or operation); to urge, press (a claim, etc.); also with advb. extension, esp. to push on; to push it, to press one's suit.
1611Shakes. Wint. T. ii. i. 179 Camillo's flight..doth push-on this proceeding. 1701W. Wotton Hist. Rome iii. 52 Marcus was for pushing on his Blow. a1720Sewel Hist. Quakers (1795) I. iv. 365 Since the churchmen pushed on so wicked a business. 1777Watson Philip II (1793) II. xiii. 136 If the Spanish commander..had pushed his operations with proper rigour, he must have made himself master of the town. 1827Examiner 275/2 Such pupils..as chose to push their studies. 1842S. Lover Handy Andy ii, They say Tom's pushing it strong there. 1871R. Ellis Catullus lxiv. 85 So..Push'd he his onward journey to Minos' haughty dominion. 1952Sun (Baltimore) 22 Mar. 6/4 Even if steelworkers push their productivity, a very large share of their production goes..into war materials. 1966A. Sachs Jail Diary iii. 34 He only asked one question all the time, and did not even push that one. 1970B. Mather Break in Line v. 60 ‘Once is funny, twice is cheeky,’ he grunted. ‘Don't push things, boy.’
b. Phr. to push one's († a) fortune, to engage actively in making one's fortune. Cf. fortune n. 5.
1657Sir W. Mure Hist. 251 A man wittie and hardie, fit for pouseing a fortoune in these times. 1697Dryden Virg. Georg. Ded. (1721) I. 190 You push'd not your Fortune to rise in either. 1719Ramsay 3rd Answ. to Hamilton xiv, We man to the bent, And pouse our fortune. 1749Smollett Gil Blas i. i, It is high time for a brisk lad of seventeen, like thee, to push thy fortune in the world. 1863Kinglake Crimea (1876) I. xiii. 214 To glance at the operations of a small knot of middle-aged men who were pushing their fortunes in Paris. 1886[see fortune n. 5].
c. To extend operations vigorously forward in space, or to more distant places.
1842Alison Hist. Eur. lxvi. §83 (1848) XIV. 285 The approaches were pushed with great rapidity. 1872Yeats Growth Comm. 94 They pushed their trade to still more distant parts. 1884Manch. Exam. 27 May 5/1 Hitherto Russia has been pushing her conquests in a region where there is no well-established authority and no clear boundaries.
d. to push one's luck: see luck n. 3.
e. Phr. to push it, push things, to cause (an action) to be rushed; to hurry, cut fine. colloq.
1967H. Dalmas Fowler Formula iii. 31 [We] could have her by Christmas... It would be pushing things a little, but they said it could be done. 1971‘F. Clifford’ Blind Side iv. iii. 165 Fourteen twenty-five?—or is that pushing it a bit?
12. To carry out (a matter, action, principle, etc.) to a farther point, or to the farthest limit. to push through, to press or carry by force to a conclusion.
1713Addison Guard. No. 137 ⁋1, I think they have pushed this matter a little too far. 1779Mirror No. 45 ⁋7 He must push to excess every species of extravagant dissipation. 1839J. Yeowell Anc. Brit. Ch. i. (1847) 4 If we push our investigations to an earlier period. 1856Emerson Eng. Traits, Cockayne Wks. (Bohn) II. 64 Individual right is pushed to the uttermost bound compatible with public order. 1876Green Stray Stud. 7 That peculiar temper..which declines to push conclusions to extremes. 1888Bryce Amer. Commw. I. xxxii. 489 If it [viz. a measure] is not pressing, neither party..cares to take it up and push it through.
13. a. To advance or try to advance or promote; to urge or press the adoption, use, practice, sale, etc. of (a thing); to exert oneself for the advancement or promotion of (a person); also with forward, on. Also (now obs.?) with off.
1714R. Fiddes Pract. Disc. ii. 31 Journalists [are] employ'd to push and forward it. 1748H. Walpole Let. to Mann 12 Jan., There is a transaction going on to send Sir Charles Williams to Turin; he has asked it, and it is pushed. 1758Johnson Let. to Burney 8 Mar. in Boswell, Not that I mean to impose upon you the trouble of pushing them with more importunity than may seem proper. 1861Hughes Tom Brown at Oxf. i, Every one who had a son..whom he wanted to push forward in the world [etc.]. 1873Punch 26 Apr. 178/2 Why do not the managers imitate another class of persons who push off drugs by means of puffing. 1888Pall Mall G. 22 May 12/1 Pushing the sale of British goods. 1894Times 28 Nov. 4/2 To correct your correspondent's misconception of the phrase ‘pushing’ a book. 1936D. Powell Turn, Magic Wheel ii. 140 He saw a bad month ahead explaining to Dennis why his book was not being pushed. 1949Wodehouse Uncle Dynamite xiv. 237 She was always complaining that her last publishers wouldn't push her books. 1977Jrnl. R. Soc. Arts CXXV. 124/2, I think the improvement grants we have are fairly good. They need to be pushed more.
b. To press, force, or thrust (something) on or upon a person for attention, acceptance, or adoption.
1723R. Wodrow Corr. (1843) III. 99 They were not fond of having one that was in the family, and on that score pushed on them. 1869J. Martineau Ess. II. 91 Physicians are too apt to push their prescriptions upon the healthy. 1889‘Mark Twain’ Yankee at Crt. K. Arthur xx. (1905) 210 There was another fact, which he never pushed upon anybody unasked.
c. To peddle (drugs) illegally. Also absol. slang (orig. U.S.).
1938Amer. Speech XIII. 190/1 To push, to peddle narcotics, especially as a sub-agent or small-time dealer. 1953W. Burroughs Junkie ii. 33, I decided right then I would never push any more tea [sc. marijuana]. 1956‘E. McBain’ Pusher (1959) 37 ‘How would I know..even if he was supplying himself and others besides?’ ‘Was he pushing?’ 1959J. Osborne World of Paul Slickey ii. ix. 71 It will surely bug you when there is..no tea to push. 1968B. Turner Sex Trap xvi. 154 ‘Are you the man?.. You pushing or aren't you?’ 1977‘J. Fraser’ Hearts Ease in Death xv. 171 Was Billy Nesbitt buying amphetamines..and selling them to other kids? Was he, in fact, pushing drugs?
14. To press or bear hard upon (a person) in dealing with him, to put to straits; esp. in pass., To be hard pressed or put to straits, as by lack of time, means, etc.; often with for.
1761Hume Hist. Eng. I. viii. 171 Henry laying hold of so plausible a pretence, resolved to push the clergy with regard to all their privileges. 1863Trollope Small House at Allington in Cornh. Mag. XVIII. 272 ‘They'll be very pushed about money,’ said Mr. Boyce. 1867J. R. Browne Land of Thor iii. 43 It is dreadful to see people so hard pushed to live. 1890‘R. Boldrewood’ Col. Reformer (1891) 258 I'm a little pushed for time. 1893Raymond Gent. Upcott ii, I'm a little pushed..and I thought perhaps you'd let me have a small matter of fifteen pound. 1946R.A.F. Jrnl. May 170 He is occasionally a little pushed by the constant stream of callers. 1967P. Moyes Murder Fantastical xiv. 209 Sorry we can't invite you to lunch, Tibbett, but what with the funeral and the Fête..Vi's a bit pushed. 1972K. Benton Spy in Chancery viii. 85 We think his boss may be pushing him. 1978G. A. Sheehan Running & Being xii. 173 You frequently read that a runner would have done better if he only had someone to push him during a race.
Hence pushed |pʊʃt|, ppl. a.; also Comb., as pushed-back, push-down, push-up ppl. adjs.
1658Bp. Reynolds Lord's Supper xii, Would not God, in the Law, accept of any but pushed, and dissected, and burned sacrifices? 1878Q. Jrnl. Geol. Soc. XXXIV. 566 Pushed-up mounds or long ridges of gravels..are a conspicuous feature along the shores of the Polar basin. 1922Joyce Ulysses 45 They wait, their pushedback chairs..around a board of abandoned platters. 1948P. White Aunt's Story iv. 80 Theodora had gone. There was only the pushed-back furniture. 1962Listener 5 Apr. 617/2 Mr Thomas has the commanding quality of a real Heldentenor, not a pushed-up baritone as are many Wagnerian tenors. 1969Jane's Freight Containers 1968–69 286/1 The Rhône..will be open to pushed convoys of 3,000 tons. 1971D. E. Westlake I gave at the Office (1972) 20 The pushed-down button for the line in use goes right on.
Add:[1.] o. Computing. To prepare (a stack) to receive a piece of data, etc. on the ‘top’ (usu. const. down); also, to transfer (data, etc.) to the ‘top’ of a stack. Opp. *pull v. 1 g, (occas.) *pop v.1 11. Cf. push-down a. 1.
1962[see *pop v.1 11]. 1963B. F. Green Digital Computers in Res. v. 95 The initial set up pushes down lists for storing the input symbol, the replacement symbol, and the name of the list and also pushes down a temporary storage cell that will hold the current location on the list as the routine progresses. The final cleanup pops up these four push-down lists, leaving them exactly as they were when the routine was entered. 1967H. Hellerman Digital Computer Syst. Princ. viii. 342 Operations implicitly reference the operand(s) at the top of the list, and the result operand replaces the operand(s) at the top of the list. The structure thus behaves as if an entered item ‘pushes down’ the other items. 1976M. M. Mano Computer Syst. Archit. vii. 267 The interrupt cycle automatically pushes the return address into the stack. 1983Your Computer Aug. 63/1 Next, we push the remaining registers on the stack.
[6.] b. To exert muscular pressure internally, esp. during the second stage of labour; to bear down.
1956L. R. Celestin tr. F. Lamaze's Painless Childbirth iii. iv. 140 When the head..presents itself.., the woman should push more steadily. 1959D. G. Wilson Clyne Conc. Textbk. Midwives III. xxxii. 124 Many patients push voluntarily before full dilatation, and so deceive the inexperienced. 1962S. Kitzinger Experience of Childbirth x. 137 Occasionally the urge to push comes very suddenly and more or less overwhelmingly. 1971H. & M. Brant Dict. Pregnancy 136 While pushing down you should feel as though the breath is down in the abdomen and not held high in your chest. 1983Brit. Med. Jrnl. 30 July 309/2 Full cervical dilatation alone does not endanger the fetus, and if it is diagnosed at routine vaginal examination the mother should not be encouraged to push until she feels the urge to do so.
[10.] d. Photogr. = push-process vb. s.v. push-. Freq. const. to.
1970Light & Film iv. 130/1 When a photographer intentionally underexposes a picture, he ‘pushes’ the film; he simply assumes that it is more sensitive than it really is and arbitrarily assigns it an ASA number higher than the standard one specified. 1977J. Hedgecoe Photographer's Handbk. 67 (caption) Most color reversal films can be ‘pushed’ in speed and then given carefully controlled additional first development time. 1979Amat. Photographer 10 Jan. 90/1 A black and white negative film such as Tri-X or HP5 can be pushed quite easily to 1600 or 3200ASA. 1987Camera Weekly 25 July 38/1 Push processing..can also affect colour balance with a pronounced shift towards blue the more stops you try and push the film.
▸ orig. Aeronaut.to push the envelope and variants: to approach or go beyond the current limits of performance (see envelope n. Additions); to exceed or extend the boundaries of what is considered possible or permissible; to pioneer or innovate.
Popularized in U.S. author Tom Wolfe's 1979 book about the space programme The Right Stuff.
1978Aviation Week & Space Technol. 3 July 110/3 The aircraft's altitude envelope must be expanded to permit a ferry flight across the nation. NASA pilots were to push the envelope to 10,000 ft. 1979T. Wolfe Right Stuff (1980) i. 8 One of the phrases that kept running through the conversation was ‘pushing the outside of the envelope’... [That] seemed to be the great challenge and satisfaction of flight test. 1981Washington Post (Nexis) 18 Apr. d1 If you're going to be a star daredevil, then, by God, you've got to be daring. You don't get applause just for pushing the envelope anymore. It's as if you have to tear it open. 1989N.Y. Times Mag. 6 Aug. 23/1 ‘What we want’, he tells the audience, ‘is to create the next computing revolution. We want to push the envelope’. 1993Washington Post (National Weekly ed.) 7 June 23/1 Steven Bochco is offering a new series this fall on ABC, ‘NYPD Blue’, that, it has been widely predicted, will ‘push the edge of the envelope’ of profanity, nudity and artistic violence. 2002Time 28 Jan. 21/2 Andersen..worked overtime to show that..it was merely trying to serve a secretive and aggressive client who was pushing the envelope on accounting rules that aren't very clear anyway. |