pressed for time


In a hurry, as in How long will it take? I'm really pressed for time. This idiom uses press in the sense of “subject to pressure,” a usage dating from the late 1600s.

The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.