a1500 (?a1425) tr. Secreta Secret. (Lamb.) 77 (MED) And he þat vche day etys seuyn dragmes of pressyd [L. passi] rasynges of good swetnes.

1512 in E. Beveridge Burgh Rec. Dunfermline (1917) 185 j pec of presit quheit.

1594 J. Lyly Mother Bombie iii. iv. sig. E4^v Me thought there sate vpon a shelfe three damaske prunes in veluet caps and prest satten gownes.

1647 R. Baron Εροτοπαιγνιον iii. 71 Her lovely armes are like prest curds.

1684 A. Behn Love-lett. between Noble-man & Sister 12 Where our prints (that invited me) still remain on the prest greens.

1710 J. Harris Lexicon Technicum II. at Prest Sail A Ship at Sea is said to carry a Prest Sail, when she carries all that She can possibly Croud.

1739 M. Browne Ess. on Universe i in Wks. & Rest of Creation (1752) 12 The od'rous Briar thy Senses will beguile, Or the press'd Bank of hardy Camomile.

1781 G. Keate Monument in Arcadia i. 213 The press'd Grape, Pouring from Goblets deep its purple Stream.

1807 G. Crabbe Library (rev. ed.) in Poems 143 The close-prest Leaves, unclos'd for many an age.

1850 E. Dobson Rudimentary Treat. Manuf. Bricks & Tiles i. iii. 83 Pressed bricks..are prepared by putting the raw bricks one at a time, when nearly dry, into a metal mould, in which they are forcibly compressed by the action of a powerful lever which forces up the piston forming the bottom of the mould.

1895 Army & Navy Co-op Soc. Price List 111/2 Pressed veal & ham (Blanchflower's).

1912 J. Armstrong Motor 266 I expect to see the clutch and flywheel as pressed parts in the near future, while pressed-steel pistons and connecting-rods are most likely to become common.

1935 H. C. Bryson Gramophone Rec. ix. 212 As soon as the press is opened, the steam commences to circulate in the dies, so that the operator has to remove the pressed record speedily or it will adhere to the rapidly-warming die.

1987 E. David Omelette & Glass of Wine (BNC) 168 On a Friday in January it is followed by Irish stew and cheese..on Saturday by cold ham and pressed beef.

2005 Ottawa Citizen (Nexis) 17 Dec. i10 This is a highly collectible pressed-glass sugar bowl, and it's more than 100 years old.

1958 C. Achebe Things fall Apart xxiii. 174 They were not even given any water to drink, and they could not go out to urinate or go into the bush when they were pressed.

2018 New Dawn (Liberia) (Nexis) 4 Sept. A male visitor..who was pressed and attempted to use the toilet was denied entry on grounds that the bathrooms are locked.

1963 L. Hairston in Freedomways Winter 50 If you ain't pressed and got the right spiel, you ain't sayin' nothin' to the silks.

1972 T. Kochman Rappin' & Stylin' Out 165 Being well dressed is..expressed kinetically (‘pressed’), and..the term refers to a favored norm.

1976 in D. Wepman et al. Life 37 My man Smitty was also pressed, And looked real tough.

1981 W. Safire in N.Y. Times Mag. 18 Jan. 6 A person dressed spiffily is said to be clean, and in some areas pressed.

2003 Times (Nexis) 24 June 12 There are people who can sleep all night in a car wearing their suit and emerge looking fresh and pressed.

1578 H. Wotton tr. J. Yver Courtlie Controuersie v. 306 O famous splendant starre by Cupid stayde aboue, The pressed slaue at all assayes, and messenger of Loue.

1589 True Coppie Disc. Late Voy. Spaine & Portingale (1881) 51 Our slovenly prest men, whome the Iustices..have sent us out as the scumme and dregges of their Countrey.

1653 J. Collinges Responsoria ad Erratica Piscatoris sig. A3^v Though he came vapouring out with an Army of Authors at his heels yet..they were all prest men, that ran away presently.

1705 Ld. Seymour in T. Hearne Remarks & Coll. 31 Oct. (O.H.S.) I. 62 100 Voluntiers are better than 200 press'd men.

1748 B. Robins & R. Walter Voy. round World by Anson i. iii. 31 The Spaniards were sensible of the disaffection of their prest hands.

1775 E. Thompson Fair Quaker (ed. 2) iv. 41 I fear it will prove a tragedy to poor Mizen, who will look as dull as a pressed sailor under the hatches of a tender.

1832 J. Clare Let. 10 Nov. (1985) 600 I thank you heartily for your encouragement..for one volunteer as the old saying has it is worth fifty pressed men.

1878 W. Stubbs Constit. Hist. (ed. 2) III. xviii. 88 A great part of the naval service was still conducted by pressed ships.

1898 J. S. Corbett Drake & Tudor Navy II. xi. 406 Volunteers flocked to his flag in such numbers that all the pressed men were dismissed and numbers of eager volunteers had to be turned away.

1935 Times 24 Oct. 10/4 If the Miners' Federation can prove by its wisdom..that it is the body to which miners ought to entrust their interests, eventually it will get all of them... And one volunteer is still worth a considerable number of pressed men.

1958 B. Behan Borstal Boy iii. 335 Fancy meeting you gentlemen, and me worn out going round the gaff looking for spud-peelers. Volunteers, of course. One volunteer is worth ten pressed men, you, you and you.

1972 Jrnl. Brit. Stud. 11 15 The council ordered the captains..to go out into the counties themselves to receive 2,000 additional pressed men, a supplementary press to make up for deserters.

2005 Sun (Nexis) 24 Feb. Bosnich..is to box on BBC3's The Fight next month... Sun Sports News Editor Wood was to be his sparring partner as he trained. They say one volunteer is worth two pressed men and Wood was a pressed Press man—put forward for the job by his eager bosses.

1650 T. Fuller Pisgah-sight of Palestine ii. ii. 79 Ahimaaz..being a messenger volunteer, would confess..no more news then what he knew would be welcome, whilest Cushi a prest Post must relate the full of his message.

1898 Times 24 Sept. 9/3 ‘Pressed men’ of..naval romances were really the ‘prest men’ of earlier times—men who had taken..ready money..as an..advance paid.