Pressed brick

Press \Press\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Pressed}; p. pr. & vb. n.
   {Pressing}.] [F. presser, fr. L. pressare to press, fr.
   premere, pressum, to press. Cf. {Print}, v.]
   1. To urge, or act upon, with force, as weight; to act upon
      by pushing or thrusting, in distinction from pulling; to
      crowd or compel by a gradual and continued exertion; to
      bear upon; to squeeze; to compress; as, we press the
      ground with the feet when we walk; we press the couch on
      which we repose; we press substances with the hands,
      fingers, or arms; we are pressed in a crowd.
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            Good measure, pressed down, and shaken together.
                                                  --Luke vi. 38.
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   2. To squeeze, in order to extract the juice or contents of;
      to squeeze out, or express, from something.
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            From sweet kernels pressed,
            She tempers dulcet creams.            --Milton.
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            And I took the grapes, and pressed them into
            Pharaoh's cup, and I gave the cup into Pharaoh's
            hand.                                 --Gen. xl. 11.
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   3. To squeeze in or with suitable instruments or apparatus,
      in order to compact, make dense, or smooth; as, to press
      cotton bales, paper, etc.; to smooth by ironing; as, to
      press clothes.
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   4. To embrace closely; to hug.
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            Leucothoe shook at these alarms,
            And pressed Palemon closer in her arms. --Pope.
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   5. To oppress; to bear hard upon.
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            Press not a falling man too far.      --Shak.
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   6. To straiten; to distress; as, to be pressed with want or
      hunger.
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   7. To exercise very powerful or irresistible influence upon
      or over; to constrain; to force; to compel.
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            Paul was pressed in the spirit, and testified to the
            Jews that Jesus was Christ.           --Acts xviii.
                                                  5.
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   8. To try to force (something upon some one); to urge or
      inculcate with earnestness or importunity; to enforce; as,
      to press divine truth on an audience.
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            He pressed a letter upon me within this hour.
                                                  --Dryden.
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            Be sure to press upon him every motive. --Addison.
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   9. To drive with violence; to hurry; to urge on; to ply hard;
      as, to press a horse in a race.
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            The posts . . . went cut, being hastened and pressed
            on, by the king's commandment.        --Esther viii.
                                                  14.
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   Note: Press differs from drive and strike in usually denoting
         a slow or continued application of force; whereas drive
         and strike denote a sudden impulse of force.
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   {Pressed brick}. See under {Brick}.
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Brick \Brick\ (br[i^]k), n. [OE. brik, F. brique; of Ger.
   origin; cf. AS. brice a breaking, fragment, Prov. E. brique
   piece, brique de pain, equiv. to AS. hl[=a]fes brice, fr. the
   root of E. break. See {Break}.]
   1. A block or clay tempered with water, sand, etc., molded
      into a regular form, usually rectangular, and sun-dried,
      or burnt in a kiln, or in a heap or stack called a clamp.
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            The Assyrians appear to have made much less use of
            bricks baked in the furnace than the Babylonians.
                                                  --Layard.
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   2. Bricks, collectively, as designating that kind of
      material; as, a load of brick; a thousand of brick.
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            Some of Palladio's finest examples are of brick.
                                                  --Weale.
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   3. Any oblong rectangular mass; as, a brick of maple sugar; a
      penny brick (of bread).
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   4. A good fellow; a merry person; as, you 're a brick.
      [Slang] "He 's a dear little brick." --Thackeray.
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   {To have a brick in one's hat}, to be drunk. [Slang]
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   Note: Brick is used adjectively or in combination; as, brick
         wall; brick clay; brick color; brick red.
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   {Brick clay}, clay suitable for, or used in making, bricks.
      

   {Brick dust}, dust of pounded or broken bricks.

   {Brick earth}, clay or earth suitable for, or used in making,
      bricks.

   {Brick loaf}, a loaf of bread somewhat resembling a brick in
      shape.

   {Brick nogging} (Arch.), rough brickwork used to fill in the
      spaces between the uprights of a wooden partition; brick
      filling.

   {Brick tea}, tea leaves and young shoots, or refuse tea,
      steamed or mixed with fat, etc., and pressed into the form
      of bricks. It is used in Northern and Central Asia. --S.
      W. Williams.

   {Brick trimmer} (Arch.), a brick arch under a hearth, usually
      within the thickness of a wooden floor, to guard against
      accidents by fire.

   {Brick trowel}. See {Trowel}.

   {Brick works}, a place where bricks are made.

   {Bath brick}. See under {Bath}, a city.

   {Pressed brick}, bricks which, before burning, have been
      subjected to pressure, to free them from the imperfections
      of shape and texture which are common in molded bricks.
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