Press, n.
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.
Note: ☞ 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. 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.
In their throng and press to that last hold. --Shak.
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.
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.
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Hy·dro·stat·ic Hy·dro·stat·ic·al a. Of or relating to hydrostatics; pertaining to, or in accordance with, the principles of the equilibrium of fluids.
The first discovery made in hydrostatics since the time of Archimedes is due to Stevinus. --Hallam.
Hydrostatic balance, a balance for weighing substances in water, for the purpose of ascertaining their specific gravities.
Hydrostatic bed, a water bed.
Hydrostatic bellows, an apparatus consisting of a water-tight bellowslike case with a long, upright tube, into which water may be poured to illustrate the hydrostatic paradox.
Hydrostatic paradox, the proposition in hydrostatics that any quantity of water, however small, may be made to counterbalance any weight, however great; or the law of the equality of pressure of fluids in all directions.
Hydrostatic press, a machine in which great force, with slow motion, is communicated to a large plunger by means of water forced into the cylinder in which it moves, by a forcing pump of small diameter, to which the power is applied, the principle involved being the same as in the hydrostatic bellows. Also called hydraulic press, and Bramah press. In the illustration, is a pump with a small plunger , which forces the water into the cylinder , thus driving upward the large plunder , which performs the reduced work, such as compressing cotton bales, etc.
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