The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Press \Press\, n. (Zool.)
   An East Indian insectivore (Tupaia ferruginea). It is
   arboreal in its habits, and has a bushy tail. The fur is
   soft, and varies from rusty red to maroon and to brownish
   black.
   [1913 Webster]

The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Press \Press\, v. t. [Corrupt. fr. prest ready money advanced, a
   loan; hence, earnest money given soldiers on entering
   service. See Prest, n.]
   To force into service, particularly into naval service; to
   impress.
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         To peaceful peasant to the wars is pressed. --Dryden.
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The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Press \Press\, n. [For prest, confused with press.]
   A commission to force men into public service, particularly
   into the navy.
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         I have misused the king's press.         --Shak.
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   Press gang, or Pressgang, a detachment of seamen under
      the command of an officer empowered to force men into the
      naval service. See Impress gang, under Impress.

   Press money, money paid to a man enlisted into public
      service. See Prest money, under Prest, a.
      [1913 Webster]

The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Press \Press\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Pressed; p. pr. & vb. n.
   Pressing.] [F. presser, fr. L. pressare to press, fr.
   premere, pressum, to press. Cf. Print, v.]
   1. To urge, or act upon, with force, as weight; to act upon
      by pushing or thrusting, in distinction from pulling; to
      crowd or compel by a gradual and continued exertion; to
      bear upon; to squeeze; to compress; as, we press the
      ground with the feet when we walk; we press the couch on
      which we repose; we press substances with the hands,
      fingers, or arms; we are pressed in a crowd.
      [1913 Webster]

            Good measure, pressed down, and shaken together.
                                                  --Luke vi. 38.
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   2. To squeeze, in order to extract the juice or contents of;
      to squeeze out, or express, from something.
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            From sweet kernels pressed,
            She tempers dulcet creams.            --Milton.
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            And I took the grapes, and pressed them into
            Pharaoh's cup, and I gave the cup into Pharaoh's
            hand.                                 --Gen. xl. 11.
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   3. To squeeze in or with suitable instruments or apparatus,
      in order to compact, make dense, or smooth; as, to press
      cotton bales, paper, etc.; to smooth by ironing; as, to
      press clothes.
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   4. To embrace closely; to hug.
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            Leucothoe shook at these alarms,
            And pressed Palemon closer in her arms. --Pope.
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   5. To oppress; to bear hard upon.
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            Press not a falling man too far.      --Shak.
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   6. To straiten; to distress; as, to be pressed with want or
      hunger.
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   7. To exercise very powerful or irresistible influence upon
      or over; to constrain; to force; to compel.
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            Paul was pressed in the spirit, and testified to the
            Jews that Jesus was Christ.           --Acts xviii.
                                                  5.
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   8. To try to force (something upon some one); to urge or
      inculcate with earnestness or importunity; to enforce; as,
      to press divine truth on an audience.
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            He pressed a letter upon me within this hour.
                                                  --Dryden.
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            Be sure to press upon him every motive. --Addison.
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   9. To drive with violence; to hurry; to urge on; to ply hard;
      as, to press a horse in a race.
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            The posts . . . went cut, being hastened and pressed
            on, by the king's commandment.        --Esther viii.
                                                  14.
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   Note: Press differs from drive and strike in usually denoting
         a slow or continued application of force; whereas drive
         and strike denote a sudden impulse of force.
         [1913 Webster]

   Pressed brick. See under Brick.
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The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Press \Press\, v. i.
   1. To exert pressure; to bear heavily; to push, crowd, or
      urge with steady force.
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   2. To move on with urging and crowding; to make one's way
      with violence or effort; to bear onward forcibly; to
      crowd; to throng; to encroach.
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            They pressed upon him for to touch him. --Mark iii.
                                                  10.
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   3. To urge with vehemence or importunity; to exert a strong
      or compelling influence; as, an argument presses upon the
      judgment.
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The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Press \Press\, n. [F. presse. See 4th 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.
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   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.
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   2. Specifically, a printing press.
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   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.
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   4. An upright case or closet for the safe keeping of
      articles; as, a clothes press. --Shak.
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   5. The act of pressing or thronging forward.
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            In their throng and press to that last hold. --Shak.
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   6. Urgent demands of business or affairs; urgency; as, a
      press of engagements.
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   7. A multitude of individuals crowded together; ? crowd of
      single things; a throng.
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            They could not come nigh unto him for the press.
                                                  --Mark ii. 4.
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   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.
      [1913 Webster]

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):

press
    n 1: the state of demanding notice or attention; "the insistence
         of their hunger"; "the press of business matters" [syn:
         imperativeness, insistence, insistency, press,
         pressure]
    2: the print media responsible for gathering and publishing news
       in the form of newspapers or magazines [syn: press, public
       press]
    3: a machine used for printing [syn: press, printing press]
    4: a dense crowd of people [syn: crush, jam, press]
    5: a tall piece of furniture that provides storage space for
       clothes; has a door and rails or hooks for hanging clothes
       [syn: wardrobe, closet, press]
    6: clamp to prevent wooden rackets from warping when not in use
    7: any machine that exerts pressure to form or shape or cut
       materials or extract liquids or compress solids [syn:
       press, mechanical press]
    8: a weightlift in which the barbell is lifted to shoulder
       height and then smoothly lifted overhead [syn: press,
       military press]
    9: the act of pressing; the exertion of pressure; "he gave the
       button a press"; "he used pressure to stop the bleeding"; "at
       the pressing of a button" [syn: press, pressure,
       pressing]
    v 1: exert pressure or force to or upon; "He pressed down on the
         boards"; "press your thumb on this spot"
    2: force or impel in an indicated direction; "I urged him to
       finish his studies" [syn: urge, urge on, press,
       exhort]
    3: to be oppressive or burdensome; "weigh heavily on the mind",
       "Something pressed on his mind" [syn: weigh, press]
    4: place between two surfaces and apply weight or pressure;
       "pressed flowers"
    5: squeeze or press together; "she compressed her lips"; "the
       spasm contracted the muscle" [syn: compress, constrict,
       squeeze, compact, contract, press]
    6: crowd closely; "The crowds pressed along the street"
    7: create by pressing; "Press little holes into the soft clay"
    8: be urgent; "This is a pressing problem"
    9: exert oneself continuously, vigorously, or obtrusively to
       gain an end or engage in a crusade for a certain cause or
       person; be an advocate for; "The liberal party pushed for
       reforms"; "She is crusading for women's rights"; "The Dean is
       pushing for his favorite candidate" [syn: crusade, fight,
       press, campaign, push, agitate]
    10: press from a plastic; "press a record" [syn: press, press
        out]
    11: make strenuous pushing movements during birth to expel the
        baby; "`Now push hard,' said the doctor to the woman" [syn:
        press, push]
    12: press and smooth with a heated iron; "press your shirts";
        "she stood there ironing" [syn: iron, iron out, press]
    13: lift weights; "This guy can press 300 pounds" [syn: weight-
        lift, weightlift, press]
    14: ask for or request earnestly; "The prophet bid all people to
        become good persons" [syn: bid, beseech, entreat,
        adjure, press, conjure]

Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0:

427 Moby Thesaurus words for "press":
   AP, Associated Press, Fleet Street, Reuters, UPI,
   United Press International, accelerate, advice, adviser, advocate,
   annex, announcer, annunciator, apply pressure, army, ask,
   aspirator, assault, assemble, assert, attach, authority, bear,
   bear against, bear down on, bear down upon, bear hard upon,
   bear on, bear upon, bearing, bed, beg, beseech, beset, besiege,
   blandish, book publishing, boost, bosom, broadcast journalism,
   broadcasting, brook no denial, buck, bug, bull, bulldoze, bump,
   bump against, bundle, bunt, bustle, butt, butt against, buttonhole,
   cajole, calender, call, call on, call up, call upon, call-up,
   channel, clamp, clamping, clamping down, clasp, cleave to, clinch,
   clip, cluster, clutch, coax, cohue, collect, collectivize,
   commandeer, communalize, communicant, communications,
   communications industry, communicator, communize, compact, compel,
   composing room, compress, compression, compulsion,
   compulsory military service, concentrate, condense, confiscate,
   congest, congregate, conscript, conscription, consolidate,
   constrain, constraint, contend, converge, convergence, converging,
   corkscrew, cram, crisis, crowbar, crowd, crowding, crunch, crush,
   cylinder press, deluge, demand, densen, densify, depress, detach,
   detach for service, dig, dispatch, distrain, draft, draft call,
   drafting, drive, drive on, drove, dun, elbow, embosom, embrace,
   emergency, enfold, enlightener, enlist, enlistment, enroll,
   enrollment, ensphere, entreat, exert pressure, exhort, exigency,
   expedite, expert witness, express, expropriate, extractor,
   flatbed cylinder press, flatten, flock, flood, fold, force,
   force upon, forceps, forward, fourth estate, galaxy, garnish,
   gather, gathering, goad, gossipmonger, grapevine, haste, hasten,
   hasten on, haul, head, heap, heave, herd, hie on, high pressure,
   high-pressure, horde, host, hot-press, huddle, hug, hurry,
   hurry along, hurry on, hurry up, hurtle, hustle, hustle up, impel,
   imperativeness, importune, impound, impress, impressment, impulse,
   impulsion, induce, induct, induction, informant, information,
   information center, information medium, informer, insist,
   insist on, insist upon, intelligence, interviewee, iron, jab, jam,
   jawbone, jog, joggle, join, jolt, jostle, journalism, lean on,
   legion, levy, lie on, list, lobby, magazine publishing, maintain,
   makeready, mangle, mash, mass, meet, mill, mob, mobilization,
   mobilize, monitor, mouthpiece, move, multitude, muster, muster in,
   nag, nag at, nationalize, news, news agency, news medium,
   news service, newsiness, newsletter, newsmagazine, newsmonger,
   newspaper, newsworthiness, nip, notifier, nudge, oppress,
   overexert, overextend, overstrain, overtax, pack, panoply,
   paparazzi, persist, persuade, pester, pile, pile drive, pincers,
   pinch, pipette, plague, platen, platen press, plead with, pliers,
   ply, ply upon, poke, precipitate, press association, press down,
   press upon, pressroom, pressure, presswork, print medium,
   printing machine, printing office, printing press, printshop, prod,
   proofroom, propel, provoke, public press, public print,
   public relations officer, publisher, publishers, publishing,
   publishing house, publishing industry, pull, pump, punch, push,
   push on, push through, push upon, put pressure on, quicken, rabble,
   rack, radio, railroad through, raise, ram, ram down, rash impulse,
   rattle, recommend, recruit, recruiting, recruitment, replevin,
   replevy, reportage, reporter, request, rest on, roll, rotary press,
   rotogravure press, rout, ruck, run, run against, rush, rush along,
   sadden, seethe, selective service, separator, sequester,
   sequestrate, shake, shoulder, shove, sign on, sign up, siphon,
   smooth, socialize, soft-soap, solidify, source, spate, speed,
   speed along, speed up, spokesman, spur, squab, squash, squeeze,
   squeezing, squish, stampede, stand on, steam, stick to, strain,
   strain every nerve, stress, stretch, stuff, summon, summons, swarm,
   sweat blood, sweet-talk, take no denial, tamp, tax, tease,
   telegraph agency, television, teller, tense, tension,
   the fourth estate, the press, throng, thronging, thrust,
   thrust upon, tidings, tighten, tightening, tipster, tout, tug,
   tweak, tweezers, urge, urge upon, urgency, vacuum pump, wad up,
   web, web press, weigh down, weigh on, weigh upon, wheedle, whip,
   whip along, wire service, witness, word, work on, wringer



Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856):

PRESS. By a figure this word signifies the art of printing. The press is
free.
     2. All men have a right to print and publish whatever they may deem
proper, unless by doing so they infringe the rights of another, as in the
case of copyrights, (q.v.) when they may be enjoined. For any injury they
may commit against the public or individuals they may be punished, either by
indictment, or by a civil action at the suit of the party injured, when the
injury has been committed against a private individual. Vide Const. of the
U. S. Amend. art. 1, and Liberty of the Press.