impress
/ɪmˈpɹɛs/ verb, noun
Forms impresses impressing impressed
- verb (transitive) To affect (someone) strongly and often favourably; to inspire admiration from (someone). “You impressed me with your command of Urdu.”
- verb (intransitive) To make an impression; to be impressive; to arouse interest or favor. “Henderson impressed in his first game as captain.”
- verb (transitive) To mark or stamp (something) using pressure; to apply (something) using pressure. “We impressed our footprints in the wet cement.”
- verb (transitive) To produce (a mark, stamp, image, etc.); to imprint (a mark or figure upon something). “He impressed his signature into the wax.”
- verb (figurative, reflexive, transitive, intransitive) To produce a vivid impression of (something); to convince someone of one's nature. “That first view of the Eiger impressed itself on my mind.”
- verb (figurative, transitive) To fix deeply in the mind; to present forcibly to the attention, etc.; to cause someone to understand and accept something. “You have to impress the new vocabulary into your mind.”
- verb (transitive) To transfer or transmit. “The money was impressed into the hands of the financial ministry.”
- verb (transitive, figurative, electricity) To transfer voltage onto metalwork through induced or capacitative processes. “This process will impress voltage into the metal.”
- noun The act of impressing.
- noun An impression; an impressed image or copy of something.
- noun A stamp or seal used to make an impression.
- noun An impression on the mind, imagination etc.
- noun Characteristic; mark of distinction; stamp.
- noun A heraldic device; an impresa.
- noun The act of impressing, or taking by force for the public service; compulsion to serve; also, that which is impressed.
Synonyms
make an impression grab cut a figure press imprint print stamp burn inculcate pass pressgang confiscate impound seize sequester impressment affect move strike ingrain instill shanghai yarn-dye
Etymology
From Middle English impressen, from Latin impressus, perfect passive participle of imprimere (“to press into or upon, stick, stamp, or dig into”), from in (“in, upon”) + premere (“to press”).
Webster’s 1913
- verb To press, stamp, or print something in or upon; to mark by pressure, or as by pressure; to imprint (that which bears the impression).
- verb To produce by pressure, as a mark, stamp, image, etc.; to imprint (a mark or figure upon something).
- verb To be impressed; to rest. [Obs.]
- noun The act of impressing or making.
Etymology [L. impressus, p. p. of imprimere to impress; pref. im- in, on + premere to press. See Press to squeeze, and cf. Imprint.]
Etymology [See Imprest, Press to force into service.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “impress”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details