pressing

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈpɹɛsɪŋ/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛsɪŋ

Adjective

pressing (comparative more pressing, superlative most pressing)

1. Needing urgent attention.
   • 1841 February–November, Charles Dickens, “Barnaby Rudge. Chapter 75.”, in Master Humphrey’s Clock, volume III, London: Chapman & Hall, […], →OCLC:

     “I come on business.—Private,” he added, with a glance at the man who stood looking on, “and very pressing business.”

   • 1951 March, E. J. Tyler, “Post-War Recovery on the Netherlands Railways”, in Railway Magazine, page 157:

     The rebuilding of damaged stations is proceeding slowly, on account of the shortage of building materials and the pressing needs of housing, but steady progress is being made.

   • 2013 January 3, Luke Harding, Uki Goni, “Argentina urges UK to hand back Falklands and 'end colonialism'”, in The Guardian‎:

     Argentinians support the "Malvinas" cause, which is written into the constitution. But they are also worried about pressing economic problems such as inflation, rising crime and corruption.

   • 2019 September 18, Drachinifel, 25:58 from the start, in Battle of Tsushima - When the 2nd Pacific Squadron thought it couldn't get any worse...‎, archived from the original on 4 December 2022:

     Four Japanese torpedo boats launch an attack on the Suvorov. Despite burning steadily for several hours and now taking a torpedo to the stern, the ship still lashes out at its attackers with a few remaining guns. With no pressing need to continue the attack to closer range, the torpedo boats fall back, noting the position for a night attack if Suvorov survives that long.

2. Insistent, earnest, or persistent.
   • 1891, Oscar Wilde, chapter 2, in The Picture of Dorian Gray, London, New York, N.Y., Melbourne, Vic.: Ward Lock & Co., →OCLC:

     You are very pressing, Basil, but I am afraid I must go.

   • 1908, Joseph Conrad, The Duel:

     He was pressing and persuasive.

Noun

pressing (plural pressings)

1. The application of pressure by a press or other means.
2. A metal or plastic part made with a press.
3. The process of improving the appearance of clothing by improving creases and removing wrinkles with a press or an iron.
4. A memento preserved by pressing, folding, or drying between the leaves of a flat container, book, or folio. Usually done with a flower, ribbon, letter, or other soft, small keepsake.
5. The extraction of juice from fruit using a press.
6. A phonograph record; a number of records pressed at the same time.
7. Urgent insistence.

Verb

pressing

1. present participle and gerund of press

Anagrams

• springes, presigns, spersing, Spigners, Persings

Etymology

Pseudo-anglicism, derived from pressing.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /pʁɛ.siŋ/ ~ /pʁe.siŋ/

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

pressing m (plural pressings)

1. dry cleaning shop, a dry-cleaner's

Further reading

• “pressing”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.