pressingn.1
/ˈprɛsɪŋ/, U.S. /ˈprɛsɪŋ/ 1. The action or process of press v.1 (in various senses). Recorded earliest in pressing iron n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > existence and causation > creation > destruction > pressing, pressure, or squeezing > [noun] > pressing to extract something
expression1594
pressing1600
expressure1656
expressing1889
the world > physical sensation > cleanness and dirtiness > cleaning > washing > washing clothes and textile articles > [noun] > pressing or ironing
ironing1688
goffering1846
flat-ironing1879
pressinga1911
iron1922
press1932
society > leisure > sport > types of play, actions, or postures > [noun] > attack
attack1786
attacking1804
play1868
penetration1958
run-and-gun1967
pressing1976
1343 Reading Abbey Tailor's Compotus (BL Add. 19657) in Middle Eng. Dict. at Pressing(e In Reparacione vnius pressynge yryn pro Scissore, viij d.
a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add.) f. 86v Also of drynes comeþ streitnesse of pipes and pressinge of þe longoun, & so folewiþ rouȝnes & hoosnes.
Promptorium Parvulorum (Harl. 221) 412 Pressynge, compressio.
c1475 ( Surg. Treat. in MS Wellcome 564 f. 125 (MED) Presse þe wounde wiþ a litil weke baþid in hoot wiyn & wringe out, þat if þer be ony mater wiþinne, it may be putt out wiþ þe pressynge.
a1500 (c1477) T. Norton Ordinal of Alchemy (BL Add.) (1975) 2304 (MED) Lerne ye may nowe How liquour is in many maners fownde Owte of thingis that be on grownde; Som bi cuttynge, as terebentyne, Som with pressinge, as sydyre and wyne.
1569 R. Grafton Chron. II. 297 Then was there great preassing to take the King.
1600 R. Surflet tr. C. Estienne & J. Liébault Maison Rustique iii. xlix. 533 Good householders doe not loose the drosse of their pressinges, but..cast them into vessels, and with..water, make cyder for the household.
1674 in O. Airy Essex Papers (1890) I. 265 Without ye extraordinary pressing of friends I cannot remaine in it.
1681 Arraignm.,Tryal & Condemnation S. Colledge 10 The common Judgment of Pressing to Death must not pass upon him, but an Attainder of High-Treason.
1719 D. Defoe Life Robinson Crusoe 207 Those secret Hints, or pressings of my Mind, to doing, or not doing any Thing that presented.
1758 Atkins' Navy Surgeon (new ed.) xv. 219 Endeavour by gentle Pressings to restore it [sc. the uterus]: If too deep for your Fingers, it may not be amiss to use a Stick.
1838 G. P. R. James Robber I. vi. 122 The madman required no pressing.
1875 Guide Royal Porcelain Wks. 13 The manufacture of plates and dishes is called Flat Pressing.
a1911 D. G. Phillips Susan Lenox (1917) I. iii. 40 Susan finished her pressing and started to dress at five.
1969 T. C. Thorstensen Pract. Leather Technol. xii. 192 This pressing of the oil removes some of the high melting point components and gives the oil a lower cold test.
1976 Southern Evening Echo (Southampton) 15 Nov. 15/5 The match was one of two halves, with Basingstoke doing all the pressing in the first.
2003 R. Clarke Libertarian Accts. Free Will 157 The electrician's activity is a cause of the bell's ringing, as it brings about background conditions..that, together with the pressing of the button, cause the ringing.
2.
a. A product of pressing, e.g. juice, wine, oil, etc. Also: the solid matter left after extracting juice. Frequently in plural.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > drink > manufacture of alcoholic drink > wine-making > [noun] > mass of grape-skins or refuse
marc1601
pressing1607
mother of grapes1611
murk1675
grape-cake1830
the world > food and drink > drink > manufacture of alcoholic drink > cider-making > [noun] > apple pulp
pomace1572
apple pomace1664
cider-pressings1664
must1670
cider-marc1676
pug1676
pouse1704
pressing1707
apple cheese1708
pommagec1769
pummy1843
1607 E. Topsell Hist. Foure-footed Beastes 75 Where is want of such pulse, they may giue them pressinges of Grapes dryed and clensed.
1676 J. Evelyn Philos. Disc. Earth 127 The Marc and pressings of the Grape are good Compost, and so is the Lees of Wine, mingled with the Mould.
1707 J. Mortimer Whole Art Husbandry (1721) II. 335 Which..you may put among your pressings for a Water Cyder.
1759 E. Barry Treat. Three Different Digestions 164 The last-forced Pressings, which soon degenerate into Vinegar.
1874 Indiana (Pa.) Progress 19 Nov. The blubber remaining after the first oil is taken off is placed in bags and pressed, and from these pressings most of the brown and inferior quality of oil is had.
1898 Rev. Brit. Pharmacy 32 The third pressing is evaporated to such a volume that when added to the first two the whole shall measure 2 pints.
1902 G. H. Ellwanger Pleasures of Table 152 In the same manner that the virtues of French entrées would be found wanting if deprived of the ruby pressings of the Sauvignon and Pinot.
1975 Frederick (Maryland) Post 5 Nov. c5 Then you pour the cider into a filtering bag—we ordered the special kind used for maple sap—and that catches any left over pressings as well as the foam.
1993 Enroute (Air Canada) Mar. 20/1 I tasted two new pressings straight from the barrel.
b. An object formed or shaped in a press; spec. a record, a compact disc, etc., or a series of records or discs pressed at one time.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > work > product of work > [noun] > formed in a mould or press
plasmature1610
casting1788
pressing1912
society > communication > record > recording or reproducing sound or visual material > sound recording and reproduction > a sound recording > [noun] > record or disc > type of record
pre-release1871
record album1904
re-release1907
ten-inch1908
twelve-incher1909
demonstration record1911
pressing1912
swinger1924
repressing1927
transcription1931
long-player1932
rush release1935
pop record1937
album1945
demonstration disc1947
pop disc1947
pop single1947
long-play1948
picture disc1948
781949
single1949
forty-five1950
demo disc1952
EP1952
shellac1954
top of the pops1956
gold disc1957
acetate1962
platinum disc1964
chartbuster1965
miss1965
cover1966
reissue1966
pirate label1968
rock record1968
thirty-three (and a third)1968
sampler1969
white-label1970
double album1971
dubplate1976
seven-inch1977
mini-album1980
joint1991
1912 Times 12 June 26 Most makers have tried and abandoned the metal blades; yet their day will assuredly come—presumably in the form of steel pressings.
1927 Gramophone Sept. 139/1 The new white label pressings arrived just in time for me to take them to Paris.
1959 Times Rev. Industry Nov. 46/2 Quantities of pressings and castings are required by makers of household equipment.
1973 D. Westheimer Going Public v. 77 Lee..turned on the stereo. It was an LP pressing of some old John Kirby RPM singles.
1994 Sunday Times 6 Mar. (Personal Finance section) v. 24/8 What a pity doors are so expensive to make that manufacturers will do anything to keep the pressings the same throughout the range.
2002 Sound & Vision May 35/3 The problem stems from a player-disc interaction like the one that made many DVD-Video players unable to play the first pressings of The Matrix.
Compounds
C1. General attributive.† pressingplace n. Obsolete† pressing plank n. Obsolete
pressing bag n.
ΚΠ
?1701 T. Tryon Way to get Wealth 12 When they are well soaked about twelve Hours, take them out, put them up into a fine Linen pressing Bag, press out the Juice into the Water, then boil them up together.
a1877 E. H. Knight Pract. Dict. Mech. II. 1785/1 Pressing-bag, the horsehair cloth bag in which flaxseed or stearic acid is pressed.
1996 Mother Earth News (Nexis) 1 Oct. 44 I hand-chopped apples and squeezed them in a stout muslin pressing bag.
pressing-case n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > botany > [noun] > practical > equipment
vasculum1782
pressing board1894
pressing-case1897
1897 E. L. Voynich Gadfly i. ii. 14 He expended half his spare cash on botanical books and pressing-cases, and started off..for his first Alpine ramble.
pressing cloth n. [compare earlier press cloth n.]
ΚΠ
1858 Trans. State Agric. Soc. Michigan (Michigan State Agric. Soc.) 115 What is the cause of the pressing cloth adhering to the cheese, and what is your remedy?
1917 E. R. Hambridge Simple Dressmaking iii. 65/2 Wring out the pressing cloth very tightly, and lay it on the fabric.
1999 C. Mendelson Home Comforts xxiii. 344/2 Use a pressing cloth when ironing lace and cutwork.
pressing cylinder n.
ΚΠ
1810 Brit. Patent 3385 Having the pressing cylinder reduced at one side in the well-known form called the D roller (chiefly used by calicoe printers).
1944 K. S. Markley & W. H. Goss Soybean Chem. & Technol. 154 Pressing is accomplished by means of a worm shaft which is continuously rotating within a pressing cylinder or cage composed of closely spaced steel bars.
1990 Ceramic Industry (Nexis) May 19 The pressing cylinder on these four-column machines is housed in the press' upper head.
pressing-knife n.
ΚΠ
1908 N.E.D. at Pressing vbl. sb.1 Pressing-knife.
pressing machine n.
ΚΠ
1760 J. Mair Tyro's Dict. 339 Prĕlum..a press for squeezing grapes or fruits, any pressing machine, such as clothiers and paper-makers use.
1825 in E. C. Barker Austin Papers (1924) I. ii. 1028 We intend to send a gin and probably a pressing machine.
1947 H. Croy Corn County xii. 91 The Reverend Mr. Mattern went to the pit, dug the clay with his own hands, put it in the pressing machine, then wheeled the soft, yielding bricks to the kiln.
2002 D. Aitkenhead Promised Land xx. 202 Professional ecstasy factories are fitted with expensive pressing-machines that produce smooth, tight pills.
pressing pad n.
ΚΠ
c1916 I. R. Burton School Sewing Based on Home Probl. 126 No. 2 is a pressing pad made of heavy unbleached muslin of two or more thicknesses.
1974 Lippman & Erskine Dressmaking made Simple vi. 87 Press..shaped parts over the tailor's pressing cushion/pad.
1998 In Style (Nexis) Aug. 88 Unfortunately, few filter the solvents that pull out dirt and grease, or change their pressing pads regularly (which prevents yellowing).
ΚΠ
a1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Bodl. 959) Judges vii. 25 He slowȝ Oreb in þe ston of Oreb, zeb forsoþe in þe pressyngplace [a1425 L.V. pressour; L. Torculari] of zeb.
ΚΠ
1601 P. Holland tr. Pliny Hist. World I. 488 Make thy pressing plank..of the black Sapine or Horn-beam tree.
1713 Scots Courant in W. R. Scott Rec. Sc. Cloth Manufactory New Mills (1905) Introd. p. lxxxiv Tools for the manufacture of broadcloth, such as..‘two hot presses, one cold press, pressing planks, pressing papers’.
1826 Times 20 Oct. 4/4 (advt.) Mahogany top counter 30 feet long by 3 feet wide, velveteen boards and pressing planks.
pressing plant n.
ΚΠ
1896 Times 25 Jan. 16/3 (advt.) The plant and machinery include a complete sawing and cutting plant, dipping, braiding, and pressing plant.
1958 Manch. Guardian 21 Jan. 6/6 Oriole Records Ltd...has its own pressing plant and..presses all Mr. Lonsdale's records for him.
1995 Wire Jan. 55/3 When the master tapes for the record were reported lost by the pressing plant Fahey re-recorded the entire LP and issued it again in 1967.
pressing plate n.
ΚΠ
1851 Sci. Amer. 22 Mar. 214/3 I claim the use of a lever handle, having its fulcrum on the pressing plate attached to the opposite plate.
1960 G. A. Glaister Encycl. Bk. 163 The three-edge machine..is built like a singleedge cutter, but the table revolves and the press beam is replaced by a pressing plate.
1990 W. A. Livesey GCSE Motor Vehicle Stud. viii. 69/1 The pressing plate, fitted inside the pressure plate, holds the spinner plate against the flywheel by the pressure of the coil springs.
pressing rag n.
ΚΠ
1934 A. L. Hird Princ. & Pract. Needlework & Dressmaking iv. 41 Do not apply water directly to any materials except wool and wool mixtures, but always by way of pressing rag or as steam.
pressing roller n.
ΚΠ
1796 Copies Exemplifications Patents spinning Flax 12 The rollers..are enabled to draw the hemp, tow, flax, or wool forward from under the pressing rollers.
1889 Sandusky (Ohio) Daily Reg. 1 Oct. Said box shall have a combination printing and pressing roller, with a shaft and crank for operating said roller.
1997 Leather (Nexis) Feb. 16 It has a maximum drying pressure of 80 tons with independent adjustment of the two pressing rollers.
pressing room n.
ΚΠ
1764 V. Green Surv. Worcester 232 From hence, you descend, by a flight of six or eight steps, into another pressing room.
1856 Times 19 June 14/2 (advt.) To be let..residence..comprising lofty and spacious drawing room..four capital bed rooms, two pressing rooms, [etc.]
1922 O. Mitchell Talking Machine Industry vi. 70 When the discs pass into the pressing room the steel backing is laid upon a heated table with the mould upwards.
2003 Observer (Nexis) 26 Jan. 6 The Madonna of the Olives looks down on us from a faded tapestry in the pressing room.
pressing shed n.
ΚΠ
1868 W. Morris Earthly Paradise 489 Far better spoil the gathering vat bore in Unto the pressing shed.
1990 Independent (Nexis) 12 May 40 In his ancient pressing shed, which is full of dust..and the smell of old alcohol, Mr Temperley holds up a glass of something yellow and aromatic.
C2. † pressing-fat n. Obsolete = press-fat n. at press n.1 Compounds 2a.
pressing board n. [compare slightly earlier press-board n.] a board used for pressing something; spec. (a) either of a pair of boards used in bookbinding to compress the sheets or volumes, or by botanists to press specimens of plants; (b) an ironing board.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > book > manufacture or production of books > book-binding > bookbinding equipment > [noun] > other equipment
backing-board1741
runner1818
sewing-frame1818
trindle1818
laying-press1835
gathering-table1841
gathering-board1874
pressing board1875
lying-press1876
the world > plants > botany > [noun] > practical > equipment
vasculum1782
pressing board1894
pressing-case1897
the world > physical sensation > cleanness and dirtiness > cleaning > washing > washing clothes and textile articles > [noun] > pressing or ironing > ironing or pressing implements
pressing iron1343
cold press1552
setting-stick?1578
putter1583
putting stick1583
poking-stick1592
pooter1596
poting stick1600
poker1604
goose1606
poking-iron?1606
iron1613
smoothing-iron1627
steel1638
box iron1640
smoothing-boxa1684
press iron1695
ironing board1721
sad iron1759
ironing blanket1774
ironing table1778
flat-iron1810
sleeve-board1826
ironer1833
Italian iron1833
press-board1849
ironing machine1851
goffering-iron1861
skirt-board1861
goffer1865
trouser press1880
ironing board cover1886
trouser presser1888
electric iron1890
press cloth1918
press-pad1924
tie press1926
steam-iron1951
pressing board1969
1688 R. Holme Acad. Armory iii. ix. 371/1 Parts of the Screw-Press... The Cutting Boards. The Pressing Boards. The Plow Stay or Riglet, on which the Plow runs steady.
1770 W. Graham Art Making Wines 16 Then put them into a linen cloth, not too fine, and press out the juice with a pressing board, or any other conveniency.
1875 R. Hunt & F. W. Rudler Ure's Dict. Arts (ed. 7) I. 424 The volumes are carefully laid between pressing-boards with their rounded backs put outside the edges of each pressing-board so as to escape the coming squeeze.
1894 G. M. Fenn In Alpine Valley I. 153 Only let me get my pressing-boards and the alpenstock.
1969 E. H. Pinto Treen 151/1 (heading) Ironing and Pressing Boards.
2000 Baltimore Sun (Nexis) 8 Mar. 6 d The shop retained its steam iron and pressing board until the end.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > equipment > receptacle or container > vessel > vessels for other specific purposes > [noun] > for collecting produce in oil- or wine-press
pressing-fat1567
press-fat1611
1567 A. Golding tr. Ovid Metamorphosis ii. 15 Autumne smerde with treading grapes late at the pressing Fat.
1573 J. Daus tr. H. Bullinger Hundred Serm. vpon Apocalipse (rev. ed.) f. 214 There shall the right pressingfat be set vp and made readie.
pressing paper n. †(a) a type of paper used during cloth manufacture, perhaps when pressing the cloth, to give it a smoother surface; a piece of this (obsolete); (b) (Botany) paper used to absorb moisture during the pressing of plant specimens.
ΚΠ
1545 Rates Custome House sig. cijv Pressinge papers the C. leues xx.d.
1609 Rates Marchandizes sig. K2 Pressing-paper the hundred leaues, vi.s.viij.d.
1718 Boston News-let. 2 June 2/2 Pressing Papers of several sorts fit for Weavers.
1769 J. Priestley Hist. & Present State Electr. (ed. 2) i. 26 He found light emitted in the dark by the silk and the linen, but more especially by a piece of white pressing paper, which is of the same nature with card paper.
1895 Bot. Gaz. 20 492 I always carry with me on my collecting trips a small press..filled with small blotters and pressing paper.
1928 E. Hawks Pioneers of Plant Study 233 Linnæus traversed in five months some 4600 miles of country, carrying fowling piece.., pressing paper, pocket microscope, telescope, and but a small allowance of clothing.
1995 Brittonia 47 220/1 After collection, the highly divided leaves of some taxa..are best floated onto pressing paper.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2007; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
pressingn.2
/ˈprɛsɪŋ/, U.S. /ˈprɛsɪŋ/ Now historical.
The action of press v.2; impressment, requisition. Also occasionally: an instance of this, a press.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > military organization > enlistment or recruitment > [noun] > compulsory
pressing1591
press?1592
impress1603
imprest1610
impressing1641
draft1757
conscription1799
press-ganging1863
blood tax1890
call-up1916
comb1916
1591 R. Percyvall Bibliotheca Hispanica Dict. at Maherimiento Pressing of soldiers, delectus.
1640 H. Parker Case Shipmony 48 The pressing of men, and other charges of warre.
1697 D. Defoe Ess. Projects 81 A Set Price..which each County, &c. shall raise, not by Assessment in Money, but by pressing of Men, Horses, and Carriages for the Work.
1705 Boston News-let. 26 Mar. 2/1 It's said there was the greatest pressing of men in England that was ever known.
1748 T. Smollett Roderick Random I. xxiv. 219 I was disarmed, taken prisoner, and carried on board a pressing tender.
1761 D. Hume Hist. Eng. II. App. iii. 510 The power of pressing both for sea and land service..was another prerogative.
1820 J. Trumbull M'Fingal i, in Poet. Wks. I. 7 Brought armies o'er, by sudden pressings, Of Hanoverians, Swiss and Hessians.
1862 K. Cumming Jrnl. 47 A soldier snatched it [sc. a pail] up and carried it off... This is not called stealing, but pressing.
1893 Eng. Hist. Rev. 8 283 The arrangements for increasing it were counter-ordered, and the pressing of men was stopped.
1916 Polit. Sci. Q. 31 614 He traces the pressing of men to a time as early as the reign of King John.
1950 J. E. Neale Elizabethan House of Commons v. 120 Then came the repeated pressing of men for Essex's expeditions and the Irish wars.
1986 N. A. M. Rodger Wooden World (1988) v. 182 Pressing at sea or on land was for the most part a humdrum affair calling for little if any violence.
2005 Evening Herald (Plymouth) (Nexis) 8 July 46 Impressment of foreigners was the principal cause of the war between England and the USA in 1812, for pressing was not confined to the shore.
This is a new entry (OED Third Edition, March 2007; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
pressingadj.
/ˈprɛsɪŋ/, U.S. /ˈprɛsɪŋ/ 1. That oppresses mentally; burdensome.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > adversity > [adjective] > attended by or causing affliction
eileOE
soreOE
unselec1050
evilc1175
derfa1225
stourc1275
feeble1297
illa1325
fella1400
unhappya1400
unwealful1412
importunea1425
noisomea1450
shrewd1482
importunable?c1485
importunate1490
funestal1538
nippingc1550
troublesome1552
pinching1563
grievesome1568
afflicting1573
afflictive1576
pressing1591
lacerating1609
funest1636
funestous1641
gravaminous1659
unkind1682
plightful1721
damning1798
acanthocladous1858
damnatory1858
fraught1966
the mind > emotion > suffering > cause of mental pain or suffering > [adjective]
eileOE
soreOE
balefulc1200
carefulc1200
aching?c1225
pinefulc1225
sughendc1230
pininga1250
stinginga1250
toughc1275
deringa1325
unsetec1325
unwinc1330
throlya1375
encumbrousc1384
grievable1390
painful1395
plaintfula1400
sweamlya1400
swemandc1400
temptingc1400
importunea1425
sweamfulc1430
penible?a1439
discomfortingc1450
grievingc1450
remordingc1450
sorousc1503
badc1530
paining1532
raw1548
nippingc1550
smartful1556
pinching1563
grievesome1568
griping1568
afflictive1576
pressing1591
boisterous1599
heartstruck1608
carkingc1620
gravaminous1659
vellicating1669
weary1785
traumatizing1970
gut-wrenching1972
1591 Troublesome Raigne Iohn i. sig. A3 The heauie yoke Of pressing cares, that hang vpon a Crowne.
1633 H. Hawkins Partheneia Sacra sig. Aiiij Behold then our Sacred Parthenes, Virgin of Virgins, for excellencie, is she..whom the impatient World for so manie Ages, groaning vnder their pressing burden of their crimes, with vowes and prayers had most incessantly begged and importuned.
1653 R. Austen Spirituall Vse of Orchard 13 in Treat. Fruit-trees The sence of his present miserie, is therefore the more pressing.
1722 E. Thomas Misc. Poems 75 He bore our Sins, his Father's wrath, the heavy pressing Load of both.
1749 J. Brine Nature of True Holiness Explained 28 We shall eternally behold what a gracious Part the blesses Spirit acts in our Favour, who..applies his Blood to our Souls, to ease us of the pressing Load of our Guilt.
1850 Times 17 July 5/2 I do not now see that harassed look of pressing fear which the prevalence of cholera and fever had then put upon them.
1896 R. Kipling Seven Seas 108 Across the pressing dark.
1916 A. Bullard Diplomacy of Great War 264 If the French are relieved of the pressing fear of Germany, they will stop sinking their money in the bottomless pit of the Tsar's misgovernment.
1994 Sci. Fiction Age July 40/3 He would be stranded here, on a sulfur-jetting rock in space, under the pressing gaze of the monstrous cat's-eye of a planet that hung luminescent above, nightmarishly dominating the sky.
2.
a. Calling for immediate attention; urgent.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > importance > [adjective] > urgent
urgent1496
instant1585
pressing1609
rash1609
pressive1619
imperative1621
imperious1623
exigent1624
urging1647
emergent1706
high pressure1834
acute1846
the mind > will > necessity > condition of being necessary > need or want > [adjective] > urgent
urgent1496
thronga1525
crying1608
pressing1609
rash1609
pressive1619
urging1647
immergent1655
emergent1706
acute1846
1609 Bp. W. Barlow Answer Catholike English-man 205 He that compares the Oaths; shall finde this last of Allegeance, to bee more pressing, pithy, and peremptory against the Popes Primacie in Temporalibus, then the other against his Spirituall Supremacie.
1616 J. Chamberlain in R. F. Williams Birch's Court & Times James I (1848) (modernized text) I. 400 Providing for matters most necessary, and discharging the most pressing and crying debts.
1690 J. Locke Two Treat. Govt. i. iv. §42 His pressing wants call for it.
1728 T. Rowe Lives Anc. & Illustrious Men 19 Upon this the King alter'd his Designs, and turn'd all his Forces against what he thought the most pressing Danger.
1781 E. Gibbon Decline & Fall III. 175 [He] advanced into the provinces of the South, to encounter a more pressing and personal danger.
1807 ‘P. Plymley’ Three More Lett. on Catholics iv. 33 Pressing evils are not got rid of, because they are not talked of.
1885 Law Rep.: Chancery Div. 29 459 The real object..was to enable the directors to pay off pressing liabilities.
1926 Oakland (Calif.) Tribune 21 Sept. 20/1 There is a pressing, urgent, immediate need of help.
1958 Visct. Montgomery Mem. (1961) 435 The most pressing task of the British Army in Greece was to assist in the training of the Greek Army.
1996 Observer 31 Mar. 6/6 Now there is a strong feeling among some MPs that the committee will not get round to Freemasonry, on the pretext that there is always ‘more pressing business around’.
b. Of a person: persistently solicitous; importunate. Also of a request, invitation, etc.: strongly expressed; made with an expectation of or earnest hope for acceptance.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > language > speech > request > [adjective] > pressing or urgent (of request)
busyc1400
effectual1418
effectuous1489
emulous1535
pressinga1626
a1626 F. Bacon Controv. Church Eng. in Resuscitatio (1657) 166 Many Pressing, and Fawning Persons do misconjecture, of the Humours, of Men in Authority.
1688 A. Behn Lycidus 57 She seeming resolved to grant me no more [sc. favours]..and with a charming Sorrow reproaching me, making me a thousand times more pressing than before.
1705 G. Stanhope Paraphr. III. 201 They received fresh and more pressing Invitations.
1710 R. Steele Tatler No. 200. ⁋2 My Mother..is very pressing with me to marry.
1790 E. Burke Refl. Revol. in France Pref. p. iii A new and pressing application for the Author's sentiments. View more context for this quotation
1845 R. Ford Hand-bk. Travellers in Spain I. i. 29 They are very pressing in their invitations whenever any eating is going on.
1855 T. B. Macaulay Hist. Eng. IV. xxi. 662 He had..come up to town..in consequence of a pressing summons from Porter.
1905 Washington Post 8 Dec. 6/4 Don Alfonso..made such a point of the matter and was so pressing in his entreaties, that the President ended by yielding.
1962 D. Keer Dr. Ambedkar 62 From Malwan he went to Goa at the pressing request of an admirer.
1988 R. Lewis & N. Lewis in E. Wharton Lett. Introd. 9 Mrs. Wharton managed twice not to meet May Sinclair, despite pressing invitations.
2005 Western Mail (Cardiff) (Nexis) 23 Feb. He never went abroad despite pressing invitations from all over the world.
3. That presses physically; exerting or causing pressure. † pressing sail n. Obsolete = press of sail at press n.1 11b.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > travel by water > directing or managing a ship > use of sails, spars, or rigging > [noun] > as much sail as ship will carry
press sail1592
press of sail1751
pressing sail1774
pressure of canvas1823
1656 tr. T. Hobbes Elements Philos. iii. xv. 155 Bodies, whose parts yeild more or less to the Endeavour which the pressing Body makes at the first arrival.
1683 J. Oldham Poems & Transl. 93 Forsaking every Wood, and Grove, The Sylvans ravish'd at the sight, In pressing Crowds about you strove, Gazing, and lost in wonder quite.
1716 J. Gay Trivia ii. 24 But above all, the groaping Blind direct, And from the pressing Throng the Lame protect.
1774 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 64 129 We..carried a pressing sail, with hopes of reaching Torbay before dark.
1827 W. Wordsworth White Doe of Rylstone (new version) v, in Poet. Wks. IV. 62 Nor wanted 'mid the pressing crowd Deep feeling.
1885 G. Meredith Diana (ed. 2) II. vii. 155 Beaten..like a blown banner-flag, by the pressing wind.
1938 J. M. Brewster et al. Philosophy of Act 186 In the case of the stone there is only the sense of resistance in the stone against the pressing hand.
1949 Times 26 Apr. 6/4 In the earlier boats, before this great pressing sail came into use, a 6-metre would be near the rating of 19.68ft. On the waterline and have an overall length of about 24ft.
1989 Guardian (Nexis) 26 Aug. We formed a dense mass in a narrow street... Nothing was clearly audible in that time, and the discomfort was heightened by the pressing bodies.
2005 Las Vegas (Nevada) Rev.-Jrnl. (Nexis) 29 Aug. 1 b An emcee urged the pressing crowd to give him space.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2007; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.11343
n.21591
adj.1591