pressing

Pluralpressings (some meanings)

1. 1
   adjective

   Demanding urgent attention and not able to be put off.

   Like a deadline looming tomorrow that pushes everything else aside.

   The committee faces several pressing issues that demand resolution this week.

   Climate change remains a pressing concern for governments worldwide.

   Similarurgent, critical, burning, crucial, acute

   Oppositetrivial, unimportant, minor

   Note

   Here the pressure comes from a task rather than a person, and the word usually sits before nouns of need and trouble: Dickens's "very pressing business," the pressing needs of housing, pressing economic problems. Because urgency comes in degrees, it grades freely: more pressing, most pressing, very pressing. A pressing matter cannot wait, while the "insistent" meaning describes a person who will not let a matter drop.

2. 2
   adjective

   Insistent and earnest, urging something with persistent force.

   Like a knock at the door that comes again and again until it's opened.

   His pressing entreaties eventually persuaded the board to reconsider.

   Despite her pressing inquiries, the official refused to comment.

   Similarinsistent, persistent, urgent, earnest

   Note

   Here the pressure comes from someone who will not take no for an answer. Oscar Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray has "You are very pressing, Basil, but I am afraid I must go," a polite way of naming the insistence while still refusing it. Joseph Conrad's The Duel (1908) pairs it with persuasive. In this sense it usually follows be and describes a person's manner.

3. 3
   verb

   Present participle of press.

   He was pressing the grapes when the storm hit.

   The crowd kept pressing against the barriers.

   Note

   The verb form behind the whole page: press plus -ing, used after be in progressive tenses and as a gerund. The adjective and noun senses share its spelling, so a quick test helps. A participle takes an object (pressing the grapes), while the adjective accepts very or more (very pressing, more pressing). A gerund followed by of, as in the pressing of olives, already leans toward the noun for juicing fruit.

4. 4
   noununcountable

   The smoothing of garments to sharpen creases and remove wrinkles using an iron or a press.

   Like ironing out the folds in a map so it lies flat.

   After the pressing, the linen jacket looked crisp and new.

   The dry cleaner charges extra for the pressing of delicate fabrics.

   Similarironing

5. 5
   nouncountable or uncountable

   The application of force or pressure, whether by a mechanical press or by other means.

   Like a stamp pushing down to leave its mark.

   A single pressing of the lever locked the mechanism in place.

   The mold takes shape under the steady pressing of the hydraulic ram.

   Similarpush, pressure

6. 6
   nouncountable or uncountable

   The squeezing of fruit in a press to draw out its juice.

   Like wringing a wet cloth to force the water out.

   This wine comes from the first pressing of the season's grapes.

   The pressing of the olives yields oil prized by local cooks.

   Similarcrushing, squeezing

7. 7
   nouncountable

   A phonograph record, or a batch of records manufactured together in a single production run.

   Like a print run of a book, where one batch rolls off the press together.

   The first pressing sold out within hours of release.

   Audiophiles argue that early pressings sound warmer than later reissues.

   Similaredition, run

8. 8
   noununcountable

   Insistent urging that demands an immediate response.

   Like the steady nudging of someone who won't let a question rest.

   The constant pressing from investors forced the board to act.

   She gave in to the pressing of the reporters and made a statement.

   Similarpressure, insistence

9. 9
   nouncountable

   A component of metal or plastic formed by shaping it in a press.

   Like a waffle taking the shape of the iron that presses it.

   Each pressing is inspected for defects before leaving the line.

   The car door begins as a flat sheet stamped into a single pressing.

   Similarstamping

10. 10
    nouncountable

    A keepsake such as a flower or ribbon preserved flat by drying it between the pages of a book or folder.

    Like a bookmark made from a flower flattened between the pages.

    The old diary held a pressing of violets gathered decades ago.

    She framed a delicate pressing of fall leaves.

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