pressing

American  

[pres-ing] / ˈprɛs ɪŋ /

adjective

1. urgent; demanding immediate attention.

   a pressing need.

   Synonyms:

   imperative, critical, vital, crucial

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noun

1. any phonograph record produced in a record-molding press from a master or a stamper.

2. a number of such records produced at one time.

   The fifth pressing of his hit song has sold out.

pressing British  

/ ˈprɛsɪŋ /

adjective

1. demanding immediate attention

2. persistent or importunate

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noun

1. a large specified number of gramophone records produced at one time from a master record

2. a component formed in a press

3. football the tactic of trying to stay very close to the opposition when they are in possession of the ball

Other Word Forms

• nonpressing adjective
• pressingly adverb
• pressingness noun

Etymology

Origin of pressing

1300–50; Middle English presing (gerund); press ¹, -ing ², -ing ¹

Example Sentences

Affordability, as in struggling just to get by, is not a pressing issue here.

From Los Angeles Times

Now, amid a national housing shortage, the question felt as pressing as ever: What if construction could harness the speed, efficiency, quality control and cost-savings of the assembly line?

From Los Angeles Times

Women—myself included—too often worry about coming off as hypochondriacs about pain or symptoms, so we just bear it without pressing for answers when our gut tells us the doctors are wrong.

From The Wall Street Journal

Lily doesn’t understand the rules, and I’m too lazy to read the fine print, so we take turns pressing the frog’s belly.

From Literature

Rowan tried not to think of the tons of rock and earth that surrounded them, pressing down, cutting off light and air.

From Literature

Related Words

• acute
• compelling
• critical
• crucial
• demanding
• dire
• immediate
• imperative
• insistent
• serious
• vital