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

See Examples For:

printing press

Viktoria Haidai surveys the mangled remains of the printing press, which should have been busy churning out textbooks ready for the new school year.

From BBC ● Aug. 31, 2026

And the media landscape now centers on the internet and social media rather than a printing press.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 26, 2026

At the company’s factory in Warsaw, Ind., which sits on the campus of a former printing press, a robotic system will weld together the body and frame rather than use a metal stamper.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 24, 2026

What it says about America: The steam-driven printing press meant that music was democratizing.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 1, 2026

The printing press raised questions about whether we’d be overwhelmed with information; the telephone raised questions of whether people would lose face-to-face interaction.

From "A Deadly Wandering: A Mystery, a Landmark Investigation, and the Astonishing Science of Attention in the Digital Age" by Matt Richtel