Emily Dickinson Lexicon

PRESS, v.i.

1. To urge or strain in motion; to urge forward with force. I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. – Phil. iii. The insulting victor presses on the more. – Dryden.
2. To bear on with force; to encroach. On superior powers / Were we to press, inferior might on ours. – Pope.
3. To bear on with force; to crowd; to throng. Thronging crowds press on you as you pass. – Dryden.
4. To approach unseasonably or importunately. Nor press too near the throne. – Dryden.
5. To urge with vehemence and importunity. He pressed upon them greatly, and they turned into him. – Gen. xix.
6. To urge by influence or moral force. When arguments press equally in matters indifferent, the safest method is to give up ourselves to neither. – Addison.
7. To push with force; at, to press against the door.