Definitions for impress
ɪmˈprɛs; ˈɪm prɛsim·press

Princeton's WordNet(5.00 / 1 vote)Rate this definition:

1. impress, impressmentverb

   the act of coercing someone into government service

2. affect, impress, move, strikeverb

   have an emotional or cognitive impact upon

   "This child impressed me as unusually mature"; "This behavior struck me as odd"

3. impressverb

   impress positively

   "The young chess player impressed her audience"

4. impress, ingrain, instillverb

   produce or try to produce a vivid impression of

   "Mother tried to ingrain respect for our elders in us"

5. impress, imprintverb

   mark or stamp with or as if with pressure

   "To make a batik, you impress a design with wax"

6. print, impressverb

   reproduce by printing

7. shanghai, impressverb

   take (someone) against his will for compulsory service, especially on board a ship

   "The men were shanghaied after being drugged"

8. impress, yarn-dyeverb

   dye (fabric) before it is spun

Wiktionary(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. impressnoun

   The act of impressing

2. impressnoun

   An impression, and impressed image or copy of something

3. impressnoun

   A stamp or seal used to make an impression

4. impressnoun

   An impression on the mind, imagination etc.

5. impressverb

   To affect (someone) strongly and often favourably

   You impressed me with your command of Urdu.

6. impressverb

   To produce a vivid impression of (something)

   That first view of the Eiger impressed itself on my mind.

7. impressverb

   To mark or stamp (something) using pressure

   We impressed our footprints in the wet cement.

8. impressverb

   To compel (someone) to serve in a military force

   The press gang used to impress people into the Navy.

9. impressverb

   To seize or confiscate (property) by force

   The liner was impressed as a troop carrier.

10. impressverb

    To make an impression, to be impressive

    Henderson impressed in his first game as captain.

Samuel Johnson's Dictionary(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Impressnoun

   Etymology: from the verb.

   1. Mark made by pressure.

   This weak impress of love is as a figure
   Trench'd in ice, which with an hour's heat
   Dissolves to water. William Shakespeare, Two Gent. of Verona.

   They having taken the impresses of the insides of these shells with that exquisite niceness, as to express even the finest lineaments of them. John Woodward, Nat. History.

   2. Effects upon another substance.

   How objects are represented to myself I cannot be ignorant; but in what manner they are received, and what impresses they make upon the differing organs of another, he only knows that feels them. Joseph Glanvill, Sceps.

   3. Mark of distinction; stamp.

   God, surveying the works of the creation, leaves us this general impress or character upon them, that they were exceeding good. Robert South, Sermons.

   4. Device; motto.

   To describe emblazon'd shields,
   Impresses quaint, caparisons, and steeds,
   Bases, and tinsel trappings. John Milton, Paradise Lost, b. ix.

   5. Act of forcing any into service; compulsion; seizure. Now commonly press.

   Ajax was here the voluntary, and you as under an impress. William Shakespeare, Troilus and Cressida.

   Why such impress of shipwrights, whose sore task
   Does not divide the Sunday from the week. William Shakespeare, Hamlet.

   Your ships are not well mann'd;
   Your mariners are muliteers, reapers, people
   Ingrost by swift impress. William Shakespeare, Ant. and Cleopatra.

2. To IMPRESSverb

   Etymology: impressum, Latin.

   1. To print by pressure; to stamp.

   So foul and ugly, that exceeding fear
   Their visages imprest, when they approached near. Fa. Qu.

   When God from earth form'd Adam in the East,
   He his own image on the clay imprest. John Denham.

   The conquering chief his foot imprest
   On the strong neck of that destructive beast. John Dryden, Ovid.

   2. To fix deep.

   We should dwell upon the arguments, and impress the motives of persuasion upon our own hearts, 'till we feel the force of them. Isaac Watts.

   3. To force into service. This is generally now spoken and written press.

   His age has charms in it, his title more,
   To pluck the common bosoms on his side,
   And turn our imprest launces in our eyes
   Which do command them. William Shakespeare, King Lear.

   Macbeth shall never vanquish'd be, until
   Great Birnam-wood to Dunsinane's high hill
   Shall come against him.
   ———— That will never be:
   Who can impress the forest, bid the tree
   Unfix his earth-bound root? William Shakespeare, Macbeth.

   Ormond should contribute all he could for the making those levies of men, and for impressing of ships. Edward Hyde.

Webster Dictionary(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Impressverb

   to press, stamp, or print something in or upon; to mark by pressure, or as by pressure; to imprint (that which bears the impression)

2. Impressverb

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

3. Impressverb

   fig.: To fix deeply in the mind; to present forcibly to the attention, etc.; to imprint; to inculcate

4. Impressnoun

   to take by force for public service; as, to impress sailors or money

5. Impressverb

   to be impressed; to rest

6. Impressnoun

   the act of impressing or making

7. Impressnoun

   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

8. Impressnoun

   characteristic; mark of distinction; stamp

9. Impressnoun

   a device. See Impresa

10. Impressnoun

    the act of impressing, or taking by force for the public service; compulsion to serve; also, that which is impressed

11. Etymology: [See Imprest, Press to force into service.]

Chambers 20th Century Dictionary(3.00 / 2 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Impress

   im-pres′, v.t. to press upon: to mark by pressure: to produce by pressure: to stamp: to fix deeply in the mind.—ns. Im′press, that which is made by pressure: stamp: likeness; Impressibil′ity.—adj. Impress′ible, susceptible.—n. Impress′ibleness.—adv. Impress′ibly.—ns. Impress′ion, the act or result of impressing: a single edition of a book: the effect of any object on the mind: idea: slight remembrance; Impressionabil′ity.—adj. Impress′ionable, able to receive an impression.—ns. Impress′ionism, a modern movement in art and literature, originating in France, its aim being to cast off the trammels of artistic tradition, and to look at nature in a fresh and original manner—it employs general effects, vigorous touches, and deals in masses of form and colour; Impress′ionist.—adv. Impressionis′tic.—adj. Impress′ive, capable of making an impression on the mind: solemn.—adv. Impress′ively—ns. Impress′iveness; Impress′ure (Shak.), impression.

2. Impress

   im-pres′, v.t. to force into service, esp. the public service.—n. Im′press. [An altered spelling of imprest.]

Military Dictionary and Gazetteer(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. impress

   To compel any person to serve.

Matched Categories

1. • Change Surface
   • Crime
   • Dye
   • Kidnap
   • Strike
   • Write

British National Corpus

1. Verbs Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'impress' in Verbs Frequency: #843

Anagrams for impress »

1. permiss

2. premiss

3. simpers

4. mispers

5. persism

How to pronounce impress?

1. Alex

   US English

   David

   US English

   Mark

   US English

   Daniel

   British

   Libby

   British

   Mia

   British

   Karen

   Australian

   Hayley

   Australian

   Natasha

   Australian

   Veena

   Indian

   Priya

   Indian

   Neerja

   Indian

   Zira

   US English

   Oliver

   British

   Wendy

   British

   Fred

   US English

   Tessa

   South African

How to say impress in sign language?

Numerology

1. Chaldean Numerology

   The numerical value of impress in Chaldean Numerology is: 8

2. Pythagorean Numerology

   The numerical value of impress in Pythagorean Numerology is: 9

Examples of impress in a Sentence

1. Jeev Trika:

   Super Bowl ads aren’t going to impress -- but what will reach this audience is a lively conversation thread, real reviews by their peers and a company that takes time to respond to their social comments.

2. Marco Rubio:

   When she decided she wanted to be vice president and tried to impress the Joe Biden people, she chose to begin to attack law enforcement.

3. Malachi Boyuls:

   I'd doubt his strategy was as much to go in attacking Trump as it was to impress upon viewers and the other candidates that these are serious times and serious issues, and we need a serious candidate to lead our country.

4. Brandon Scott:

   We also have to continue to impress upon everyone… to really lift up how we can be better and how we can be a place where we don't continuously allow people that we know to be so weak that they will shoot six people, that they be so weak, they're afraid that their basic little conflict that could have bruised their ego for some petty dispute can end in the loss of life.

5. William Hazlitt:

   To impress the idea of power on others, they must be made in some way to feel it.

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