printing press

American  

noun

printing presses plural

1. a machine, as a cylinder press or rotary press, for printing on paper or the like from type, plates, etc.

---

printing press British  

noun

1. any of various machines used for printing

---

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• printing presses
  plural

Etymology

Origin of printing press

First recorded in 1580–90

Example Sentences

In a season of Hollywood marked by mega-mergers from well-funded nepo children, there is something timely about these oblivious creatures smashing up a printing press and a broadcast studio.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 12, 2026

Then he turned for emphasis to the fonts available on the printing press of his day.

From Salon • Jan. 10, 2026

The plasticity of digital information is superseding earlier modes of expression and expertise, as the printing press did the scribe.

From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 5, 2025

Generative AI represents "the largest transformation in the information ecosystem since the printing press," consultant David Caswell told AFP.

From Barron's • Nov. 26, 2025

Bacon pointed out that the discoveries which were transforming his world—the compass, the printing press, gunpowder, the New World—had been generated in a haphazard fashion.

From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton