Print

[imp. & p. p. PRINTED; p. pr. & vb. n. PRINTING.] [Abbreviated from imprint, q. v.; O. D. printen, prenten, Fr. imprimer, Sp. imprimir, It. imprimere. Cf. O. Fr. preindre, priendre, to compress, oppress, load, from Lat. premere, to press.]

1Sense 1. To press or impress; to imprint. “And print on thy soft cheek a parent’s kiss.” Byron.

2Sense 2. To take an impression of; to copy or take off the impress of; to stamp. “Perhaps some footsteps printed in the clay.” Roscommon.

3Sense 3. Hence, specifically, to strike off an impression or impressions of, from types, stereotype or engraved plates, or the like, by means of a press; to multiply by the press; as, to print newspapers, handbills, books, pictures, and the like.

4Sense 4. To mark by pressure; to form an impression upon; to cover with figures by a press or something analogous to it; as, to print calico, &c.

On his fiery steed betimes he rode, That scarcely prints the turf on which he trod. Dryden.

v. i. 1. To use or practice the art of typography, or of taking impressions of letters, figures, and the like. 2. To publish a book. From the moment he prints, he must expect to hear no more of truth. Pope.

n. 1. A mark made by impression; a line, character, figure, or indentation, made by the pressure of one body or thing on another; mark; sign imparted or communicated, as, the print of the tooth or of the nails in flesh; the print of the foot in sand or snow; the print of a wheel; the print of types on paper.

Winds bear me to some barren island, Where print of human foot was never seen. Dryden.

2Sense 2. The impressions of types in general, as to form, size, and the like; as, a small print; a large print; a fair print.

3Sense 3. That which is produced by printing; an impressed or stamped article; as, (a.) A stamped likeness of any thing; a copy; an engraving; as, a print of the face or of a building. “The prints which we see of antiquities.” Dryden. (b.) A printed sheet of news; a newspaper; a journal.

The prints, about three days after, were filled with the same terms. Addison.

(c.) A printed cloth; a fabric figured by stamping; calico. (d.) (Arch.) A plaster cast of a flat ornament, or an ornament of this kind formed of plaster from a mold. Oxf. Gloss.

4Sense 4. That which impresses its form on any thing; as, a butter print; a wooden print.

5Sense 5. Formal, regular order; precision; neatness; as, to be in print. [Colloq.]

Core print (Founding), a projection on a pattern, forming a mortise in the mold made from it, to receive a portion of the core that does not appear in the casting, for the purpose of holding the core in place. — In print, in a printed form; issued from the press; published.

I love a ballad in print. Shak.

'Tis pleasant, sure, to see one's name in print; A book's a book, although there's nothing in't. Byron.

— Out of print, no longer for sale by the publisher; not to be had in the ordinary way of trade, as a printed and published work.