Chapter Presser to Presuppose of P by Webster's Dictionary (1913 Edition)

2. A contrasting force or impulse of any kind; as, the pressure of poverty; the pressure of taxes; the pressure of motives on the mind; the pressure of civilization.

Where the pressure of danger was not felt.

Macaulay.

3. Affliction; distress; grievance.

My people's pressures are grievous.

Eikon Basilike.

In the midst of his great troubles and pressures.

Atterbury.

4. Urgency; as, the pressure of business.

5. Impression; stamp; character impressed.

All saws of books, all forms, all pressures past.

Shak.

6. (Mech.) The action of a force against some obstacle or opposing force; a force in the nature of a thrust, distributed over a surface, often estimated with reference to the amount upon a unit's area.

Atmospheric pressure, Center of pressure, etc. See under Atmospheric, Center, etc. — Back pressure (Steam engine), pressure which resists the motion of the piston, as the pressure of exhaust steam which does not find free outlet. — Fluid pressure, pressure like that exerted by a fluid. It is a thrust which is normal and equally intense in all directions around a point. Rankine. — Pressure gauge, a gauge for indicating fluid pressure; a manometer.

Presswork
(Press"work`) n. The art of printing from the surface of type, plates, or engravings in relief, by means of a press; the work so done. MacKellar.

Prest
(Prest) imp. & p. p. of Press.

Prest
(Prest), a. [OF. prest, F. prêt, fr. L. praestus ready. Cf. Presto.]

1. Ready; prompt; prepared. [Obs.]

All prest to such battle he was.

R. of Gloucester.

2. Neat; tidy; proper. [Obs.] Tusser.

Prest money, money formerly paid to men when they enlisted into the British service; — so called because it bound those that received it to be ready for service when called upon.

Prest
(Prest), n. [OF. prest, F. prêt, fr. OF. prester to lend, F. prêter, fr. L. praestare to stand before, to become surety for, to fulfill, offer, supply; prae before + stare to stand. See Pre-, and Stand, and cf. Press to force into service.]

1. Ready money; a loan of money. [Obs.]

Requiring of the city a prest of six thousand marks.

Bacon.

2. (Law) A duty in money formerly paid by the sheriff on his account in the exchequer, or for money left or remaining in his hands. Cowell.

Prest
(Prest), v. t. To give as a loan; to lend. [Obs.]

Sums of money . . . prested out in loan.

E. Hall.