Press

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.
2. Specifically, a printing press.
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. An upright case or closet for the safe keeping of articles; as, a clothes press.
5. The act of pressing or thronging forward.
6. Urgent demands of business or affairs; urgency; as, a press of engagements.
7. A multitude of individuals crowded together; crowd of single things; a throng.
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.
Press of sail , (Naut.),
as much sail as the state of the wind will permit.