Im*press" (?), v. t. [imp. & p.
p. Impressed (?); p. pr. & vb. n.
Impressing.] [L. impressus, p. p. of imprimere
to impress; pref. im- in, on + premere to press. See
Press to squeeze, and cf. Imprint.] 1.
To press, stamp, or print something in or upon; to mark by
pressure, or as by pressure; to imprint (that which bears the
impression).
His heart, like an agate, with your print
impressed.
Shak.
2. To produce by pressure, as a mark, stamp,
image, etc.; to imprint (a mark or figure upon something).
3. Fig.: To fix deeply in the mind; to
present forcibly to the attention, etc.; to imprint; to
inculcate.
Impress the motives of persuasion upon our own
hearts till we feel the force of them.
I.
Watts.
4. [See Imprest, Impress,
n., 5.] To take by force for public service;
as, to impress sailors or money.
The second five thousand pounds impressed for
the service of the sick and wounded prisoners.
Evelyn.
Im*press", v. i. To be impressed;
to rest. [Obs.]
Such fiendly thoughts in his heart
impress.
Chaucer.
Im"press (?), n.; pl.
Impresses (&?;). 1. The act of
impressing or making.
2. A mark made by pressure; an indentation;
imprint; the image or figure of anything, formed by pressure or as if
by pressure; result produced by pressure or influence.
The impresses of the insides of these
shells.
Woodward.
This weak impress of love is as a figure
Trenched in ice.
Shak.
3. Characteristic; mark of distinction;
stamp. South.
4. A device. See Impresa.
Cussans.
To describe . . . emblazoned shields,
Impresses quaint.
Milton.
5. [See Imprest, Press to force into
service.] The act of impressing, or taking by force for the
public service; compulsion to serve; also, that which is
impressed.
Why such impress of shipwrights?
Shak.
Impress gang, a party of men, with an
officer, employed to impress seamen for ships of war; a press
gang. -- Impress money, a sum of money
paid, immediately upon their entering service, to men who have been
impressed.
