press
/pɹɛs/noun, verb
press is spelled P-R-E-S-S: 5 letters and one syllable. It appears 145 times per million words in written English, the 711th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, press means “An instance of applying pressure; an instance of pressing” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of press is presses.
How many letters and syllables are in press?
| Letters | 5: P-R-E-S-S |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 145 times per million words; the 711th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Rhymes with |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is press?
Press appears 145 times per million words in written English, the 711th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce press?
- US /pɹɛs/
- Australia /pɹes/
- /pɾɛs/
Press has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-uk-press.ogg, En-us-press.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with press?
The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as press from its last stressed vowel (/ɛs/):
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of press
- presses plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- pressing participle, present
- pressed participle, past, singular, he/she/it, plural
- prest participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does press mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
An instance of applying pressure; an instance of pressing.
- 2
A device used to apply pressure to an item.
a flower press
- 3
A crowd.
- 4
A printing machine.
Stop the presses!
- 5
The print-based media (both the people and the newspapers).
according to a member of the press
- 6
A publisher.
- 7
An enclosed storage space (e.g. closet, cupboard).
Put the cups in the press.
- 8
An exercise in which weight is forced away from the body by extension of the arms or legs.
verb
- 1
To exert weight or force against, to act upon with force or weight; to exert pressure upon.
- 2
To activate a button or key by exerting a downward or forward force on it, and then releasing it.
- 3
To compress, squeeze.
to press fruit for the purpose of extracting the juice
- 4
To clasp, hold in an embrace.
- 5
To reduce to a particular shape or form by pressure, especially flatten or smooth.
to press cloth with a clothes-iron
- 6
To flatten a selected area of fabric using an iron with an up-and-down, not sliding, motion, so as to avoid disturbing adjacent areas.
- 7
To drive or thrust by pressure, to force in a certain direction.
to press a crowd back
- 8
To force weight away from the body by extending the arms or legs.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Press in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | pressoir , presse , imprimerie , presser, appuyer , repasser |
| German | Presse , Druckerpresse , drücken , bügeln |
| Portuguese | prensa, imprensa , prensar, pressionar , insistir |
| Spanish | prensa , press , prensar, presionar, oprimir , pres |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does press come from?
From Middle English presse (“throng, crowd, clothespress”), partially from Old English press (“clothespress”) (from Medieval Latin pressa) and from Old French presse (Modern French presse) from Old French presser (“to press”), from Latin pressāre, from pressus, past participle of premere (“to press”). Chiefly displaced native Middle English thring (“press, crowd, throng”) (from Old English þring (“a press, crowd, anything that presses or confines”)).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).