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.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. To squeeze, in order to extract the juice or contents of;
      to squeeze out, or express, from something.
      [1913 Webster]

            From sweet kernels pressed,
            She tempers dulcet creams.            --Milton.
      [1913 Webster]

            And I took the grapes, and pressed them into
            Pharaoh's cup, and I gave the cup into Pharaoh's
            hand.                                 --Gen. xl. 11.
      [1913 Webster]

   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.
      [1913 Webster]

   4. To embrace closely; to hug.
      [1913 Webster]

            Leucothoe shook at these alarms,
            And pressed Palemon closer in her arms. --Pope.
      [1913 Webster]

   5. To oppress; to bear hard upon.
      [1913 Webster]

            Press not a falling man too far.      --Shak.
      [1913 Webster]

   6. To straiten; to distress; as, to be pressed with want or
      hunger.
      [1913 Webster]

   7. To exercise very powerful or irresistible influence upon
      or over; to constrain; to force; to compel.
      [1913 Webster]

            Paul was pressed in the spirit, and testified to the
            Jews that Jesus was Christ.           --Acts xviii.
                                                  5.
      [1913 Webster]

   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.
      [1913 Webster]

            He pressed a letter upon me within this hour.
                                                  --Dryden.
      [1913 Webster]

            Be sure to press upon him every motive. --Addison.
      [1913 Webster]

   9. To drive with violence; to hurry; to urge on; to ply hard;
      as, to press a horse in a race.
      [1913 Webster]

            The posts . . . went cut, being hastened and pressed
            on, by the king's commandment.        --Esther viii.
                                                  14.
      [1913 Webster]

   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.
      [1913 Webster]

Brick \Brick\ (br[i^]k), n. [OE. brik, F. brique; of Ger.
   origin; cf. AS. brice a breaking, fragment, Prov. E. brique
   piece, brique de pain, equiv. to AS. hl[=a]fes brice, fr. the
   root of E. break. See Break.]
   1. A block or clay tempered with water, sand, etc., molded
      into a regular form, usually rectangular, and sun-dried,
      or burnt in a kiln, or in a heap or stack called a clamp.
      [1913 Webster]

            The Assyrians appear to have made much less use of
            bricks baked in the furnace than the Babylonians.
                                                  --Layard.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. Bricks, collectively, as designating that kind of
      material; as, a load of brick; a thousand of brick.
      [1913 Webster]

            Some of Palladio's finest examples are of brick.
                                                  --Weale.
      [1913 Webster]

   3. Any oblong rectangular mass; as, a brick of maple sugar; a
      penny brick (of bread).
      [1913 Webster]

   4. A good fellow; a merry person; as, you 're a brick.
      [Slang] "He 's a dear little brick." --Thackeray.
      [1913 Webster]

   To have a brick in one's hat, to be drunk. [Slang]
      [1913 Webster]

   Note: Brick is used adjectively or in combination; as, brick
         wall; brick clay; brick color; brick red.
         [1913 Webster]

   Brick clay, clay suitable for, or used in making, bricks.
      

   Brick dust, dust of pounded or broken bricks.

   Brick earth, clay or earth suitable for, or used in making,
      bricks.

   Brick loaf, a loaf of bread somewhat resembling a brick in
      shape.

   Brick nogging (Arch.), rough brickwork used to fill in the
      spaces between the uprights of a wooden partition; brick
      filling.

   Brick tea, tea leaves and young shoots, or refuse tea,
      steamed or mixed with fat, etc., and pressed into the form
      of bricks. It is used in Northern and Central Asia. --S.
      W. Williams.

   Brick trimmer (Arch.), a brick arch under a hearth, usually
      within the thickness of a wooden floor, to guard against
      accidents by fire.

   Brick trowel. See Trowel.

   Brick works, a place where bricks are made.

   Bath brick. See under Bath, a city.

   Pressed brick, bricks which, before burning, have been
      subjected to pressure, to free them from the imperfections
      of shape and texture which are common in molded bricks.
      [1913 Webster]