Meaning & use
pressed
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Meanings
adjectiveafter a verb
Short of time or money, so that you feel under strain.
Grammar: Usually after be and followed by for: I am pressed for time.
Patterns
- be pressed for time
- be pressed for money
- be pressed for space
I'm pressed for time today, so can we talk tomorrow?
The family was pressed for money after the move.
The small shop was pressed for space and stacked boxes in the hallway.
adjectivebefore a noun
Flattened or squeezed by pressure, such as a flower, a cloth or a juice.
Grammar: Usually before a noun: a pressed flower, pressed shirts.
She kept a pressed flower in the back of her diary.
He arrived in a freshly pressed suit.
The bar sells cold pressed juice.
verbtransitive or intransitive
Past tense and past participle of press: pushed firmly on something, or smoothed with an iron.
Grammar: Takes an object (pressed the button) or none (pressed against the glass).
Patterns
- press something
- press against something
- press for something
She pressed the button and waited for the lift.
The children pressed their noses against the glass.
He pressed his shirt before the interview.
Word forms
| base form | press |
|---|---|
| third person singular | presses |
| -ing form | pressing |
Common combinations
- pressed for time
- She was pressed for time and skipped lunch.
- hard pressed
- We would be hard pressed to finish by noon.
- pressed for money
- Students are often pressed for money.
- pressed flower
- The card was decorated with a pressed flower.
- freshly pressed
- Her freshly pressed uniform hung by the door.
Synonyms and how they differ
- rushed
- Rushed focuses on hurrying because of limited time, but pressed implies strain on other resources too, like money.
- short
- Short is the plain, flexible word, often used as short of money, while pressed for sounds a bit more formal.
- strapped
- Strapped is informal and almost always about money, like strapped for cash.
- squeezed
- Squeezed suggests being pushed from several sides, as in a squeezed budget, so is less about one lack.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: pressed or pressured? pressed or stressed?
pressed vs pressured
Pressured means made to feel forced into doing something, as in pressured into signing. Pressed for time means short of time.
pressed vs stressed
Stressed describes feeling mentally tense. Pressed describes a shortage of time or money, which may cause stress.
Practice
I can't stay long because I'm pressed ___ time this afternoon.
Choose one answer.
Pressed for time is the fixed phrase. By, with and to do not combine with pressed to mean short of.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “pressed”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.