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Webster 1913 Edition

Impress

Im-press′

,
Verb.
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
.
Shakespeare
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
,
Noun.
, 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′

,
Verb.
I.
To be impressed; to rest.
[Obs.]
Such fiendly thoughts in his heart
impress
.
Chaucer.

Im′press

,
Noun.
;
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.
Shakespeare
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?
Shakespeare
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.

Webster 1828 Edition

Impress

IMPRESS'

,
Verb.
T.
[L. impressum, from imprimo; in and premo, to press.]
1.
To imprint; to stamp; to make a mark or figure on any thing by pressure; as, to impress coin with the figure of a man's head, or with that of any ox or sheep; to impress a figure on wax or clay.
2.
To print, as books.
3.
To mark; to indent.
4.
To fix deep; as, to impress truth on the mind, or facts on the memory. Hence, to convict of sin.
5.
To compel to enter into public service, as seamen; to seize and take into service by compulsion, as nurses in sickness. In this sense, we use press or impress indifferently.
6.
To seize; to take for public service; as, to impress provisions.

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