Impress /(?)/

Im·press

Impress

v. t.

imp. & p. p. Impressed; p. pr. & vb. n. Impressing

  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.
  2. To produce by pressure, as a mark, stamp, image, etc.; to imprint (a mark or figure upon something).
  3. 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.
  4. 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.

Impress

v. i.
  1. To be impressed; to rest. [Obs.]
    Such fiendly thoughts in his heart impress.

Impress

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.
    This weak impress of love is as a figure Trenched in ice.
  3. Characteristic; mark of distinction; stamp.
  4. A device. See Impresa.
    To describe . . . emblazoned shields, Impresses quaint.
  5. 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?

Phrases & Compounds

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.