IMPRESS • E-FREE TRANSLATION.COM • Definition of Impress

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/ɪmprˈɛs/ /ˈɪmprˌɛs/ Listen

verb

Impress v. t. (past & past part. impressed; pres. part. 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.

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."

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. To be impressed; to rest. (Obs.) "Such fiendly thoughts in his heart impress."

noun

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?"

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.

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Etymology of 'Impress'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Impress" Quotes from Famous Books

... meet and match the tumult of the storm. This greatest of all tragedies is written beyond the compass of the human voice, and can only be fully represented on that ideal stage, where, instead of hoarse lament and husky indignation, we hear each of us the tones that most impress and affect us, and can command the true degrees of feeling in ...

— The Contemporary Review, January 1883 - Vol 43, No. 1 • Various

... deeply meditative mind to discover the motives of ambitious struggles. The first and strongest illusion of the human mind is to believe that we are different from our fellows, and our natural impulse is to try and impress this belief upon others. ...

— Worldly Ways and Byways • Eliot Gregory

... puzzled, had partially explained to him that morning. Questions of legitimacy, and any reflection on his mother, Boase had omitted for the time being, merely telling him that when he was grown up Cloom would be his because his father had willed it so. He tried to impress on Ishmael that usually the eldest son inherited everything, and so it was natural that Archelaus should feel hurt about it. At first Ishmael, with the quick generosity of his age, had wanted to give Cloom up to his brother there and then, ...

— Secret Bread • F. Tennyson Jesse

... acquainted with the family,—that is, with the two persons of whom it consisted,—the more favorably the idea of a permanent residence in the mansion-house seemed to impress him. The estate was large,—hundreds of acres, with woodlands and meadows of great value. The father and daughter had been living quietly, and there could not be a doubt that the property which came through the Dudleys must have largely increased ...

— Atlantic Monthly Vol. 6, No. 33, July, 1860 • Various

... what that meant. The assisting force would be sent to some evil-smelling native town with an unpronounceable name, miles from anywhere, left there to garrison the place and impress the inhabitants with the might of British arms, while the Cherif and his wild horsemen charged about the desert firing rifles in the air and emitting extraordinary yells to frighten away the few stray, half-starved Turks in the vicinity. And the prospect of travelling in a horse-boat down ...

— With Our Army in Palestine • Antony Bluett

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