Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • To furnish; pay out; put out as a loan; lend.
  • noun An occasional preterit and past participle of press.
  • noun A Middle English form of priest.
  • Quickly; promptly; immediately.
  • Ready; prompt; quick.
  • At hand; near.
  • Bold; valiant.
  • Neat; comely; proper.
  • noun A loan of money; hence, a loan in general; also, ready money.
  • noun Formerly, a duty in money paid by the sheriff on his account in the exchequer, or for money left or remaining in his hands.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • imp. & p. p. of press.
  • noun obsolete Ready money; a loan of money.
  • noun (Law) A duty in money formerly paid by the sheriff on his account in the exchequer, or for money left or remaining in his hands.
  • adjective obsolete Ready; prompt; prepared.
  • adjective obsolete Neat; tidy; proper.
  • adjective money formerly paid to men when they enlisted into the British service; -- so called because it bound those that received it to be ready for service when called upon.
  • transitive verb obsolete To give as a loan; to lend.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • verb archaic Simple past tense and past participle of press.
  • noun rare A payment of wages in advance
  • noun A loan or advance (of money)
  • noun A tax or duty
  • noun obsolete A sum of money paid to a soldier or sailor upon enlistment
  • verb obsolete, transitive To give as a loan; to lend.

Etymologies

Sorry, no etymologies found.

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Examples

  • By some strange irony of circumstance there happened to be in the English language a word“pressed”which tallied almost exactly in pronunciation with the old French word prest, so long employed, as we have seen, to differentiate from his fellows the man who, by the devious means we have here described, was made “ready” for the sea service.

    languagehat.com: PRESS. 2005

  • To "prest" a man meant to enlist him by means of what was technically known as "prest" money -- "prest" being the English equivalent of the obsolete French _prest_, now

    The Press-Gang Afloat and Ashore

  • "prest" subject it was held to be of no vitiating force.

    The Press-Gang Afloat and Ashore

  • "prest" money stood for what is nowadays, in both services, commonly termed the "king's shilling," and the man who, either voluntarily or under duress, accepted or received that shilling at the recruiter's hands, was said to be "prested" or "prest."

    The Press-Gang Afloat and Ashore

  • The "prest" man disappeared, [Footnote: The Law Officers of the Crown retained him, on paper, until the close of the eighteenth century -- an example in which they were followed by the Admiralty.

    The Press-Gang Afloat and Ashore

  • Hunger fierce within him also, and his parch'd lips prest in pain,

    The Voyage of Magellan 2010

  • If the issue of his attending the convention “should be further prest which I hope it will not, as I have no inclination to go,” Washington asked, “what had I best do?”

    Ratification Pauline Maier 2010

  • If the issue of his attending the convention “should be further prest which I hope it will not, as I have no inclination to go,” Washington asked, “what had I best do?”

    Ratification Pauline Maier 2010

  • If the issue of his attending the convention “should be further prest which I hope it will not, as I have no inclination to go,” Washington asked, “what had I best do?”

    Ratification Pauline Maier 2010

  • Ai noed Ai shud hab rited dat ‘leg-end’ az sune az Ai prest ‘Add Commint’!

    To her surprise, Bella - Lolcats 'n' Funny Pictures of Cats - I Can Has Cheezburger? 2010

Comments

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  • We don't appear to have a list of moneylending words.

    November 19, 2011