Press vs. Push: What's the Difference?

To exert steady weight or force against

To apply pressure against (something), especially for the purpose of moving it

To move by applying pressure

To move (something) by exerting force against it; thrust or shove

To squeeze or clasp in fondness or concern

To exert downward pressure on (a button or keyboard, for example); press.

To squeeze the juice or other contents from

To force (one's way)

To extract (juice, for example) by squeezing or compressing.

To urge forward or urge insistently; pressure

To reshape or make compact by applying steady force; compress

To extend or enlarge

To iron (clothing, for example).

(Informal) To approach in age

To make (a sound recording), originally by pressing (a vinyl phonograph record) under pressure in a mold.

(Informal) To promote or sell (a product)

To bear down on or attack

(Slang) To sell (a narcotic) illegally

To carry on or advance vigorously (an attack, for instance).

(Sports) To hit (a ball) in the direction toward the dominant hand of the player propelling it, as to the right of a right-handed player.

To place in trying or distressing circumstances

To exert pressure or force against something

To insist upon or put forward insistently

To advance despite difficulty or opposition; press forward

To try to influence or persuade, as by insistent arguments; pressure or entreat

To advocate or recommend something insistently

To insist that someone accept (something). Often used with on or upon

To expend great or vigorous effort

(Sports) To lift (a weight) to a position above the head without moving the legs.

The act of pushing; a thrust

To exert force or pressure

The act of pressing

To be worrisome or depressing; weigh heavily

A vigorous or insistent effort toward an end; a drive

To advance eagerly; move forward urgently

A provocation to action; a stimulus

To assemble closely and in large numbers; crowd

(Informal) Persevering energy; enterprise

To continue a course of action, especially in spite of difficulties

To apply a force to (an object) such that it moves away from the person or thing applying the force.

To require haste or urgent action

(transitive) To continually attempt to persuade (a person) into a particular course of action.

To employ urgent persuasion or entreaty

(transitive) To press or urge forward; to drive.

To iron clothes or other material.

(transitive) To continually promote (a point of view, a product for sale, etc.).

(Sports) To raise or lift a weight in a press.

(intransitive) To continually exert oneself in order to achieve a goal.

(Basketball) To employ a press.

To approach; to come close to.

(Sports) In golf, to try to hit long or risky shots, typically with unsuccessful results.

(intransitive) To tense the muscles in the abdomen in order to expel its contents.

To force into service in the army or navy; impress.

(intransitive) To continue to attempt to persuade a person into a particular course of action.

To take arbitrarily or by force, especially for public use.

To make a higher bid at an auction.

To use in a manner different from the usual or intended, especially in an emergency.

(poker) To make an all-in bet.

Any of various machines or devices that apply pressure

To move (a pawn) directly forward.

A printing press.

(computing) To add (a data item) to the top of a stack.

A place or establishment where matter is printed

(computing) To publish (an update, etc.) by transmitting it to other computers.

A publishing company

(obsolete) To thrust the points of the horns against; to gore.

The communications media considered as a whole, especially the agencies that collect, publish, transmit, or broadcast news and other information to the public

To burst out of its pot, as a bud or shoot.

News or other information disseminated to the public in printed, broadcast, or electronic form

(snooker) To strike the cue ball in such a way that it stays in contact with the cue and object ball at the same time (a foul shot).

The people involved in the media, as news reporters and broadcasters

A short, directed application of force; an act of pushing.

The kind or extent of coverage a person or event receives in the media

An act of tensing the muscles of the abdomen in order to expel its contents.

A large gathering; a crowd

A great effort (to do something).

The act of gathering in large numbers or of pushing forward

An attempt to persuade someone into a particular course of action.

An act of pressing down or applying pressure

(military) A marching or drill maneuver/manoeuvre performed by moving a formation (especially a company front) forward or toward the audience, usually to accompany a dramatic climax or crescendo in the music.

The haste or urgency of business or matters

A wager that results in no loss or gain for the bettor as a result of a tie or even score

The set of proper creases in a garment or fabric, formed by ironing.

(computing) The addition of a data item to the top of a stack.

Chiefly Scots and Irish An upright closet or case used for storing clothing, books, or other articles.

The situation where a server sends data to a client without waiting for a request.

(Sports) A lift in weightlifting in which the weight is raised to shoulder level and then steadily pushed straight overhead without movement of the legs.

A particular crowd or throng or people.

(Basketball) An aggressive defense tactic in which players guard opponents closely, often over the entire court.

(snooker) A foul shot in which the cue ball is in contact with the cue and the object ball at the same time

Conscription or impressment into service, especially into the army or navy.

A pustule; a pimple.

(Obsolete) An official warrant for impressing men into military service.

A pustule; a pimple.

An instance of applying pressure; an instance of pressing.

A thrust with a pointed instrument, or with the end of a thing.

(countable) A device used to apply pressure to an item.

Any thrust. pressure, impulse, or force, or force applied; a shove; as, to give the ball the first push.

(countable) A printing machine.

An assault or attack; an effort; an attempt; hence, the time or occasion for action.

The print-based media (both the people and the newspapers).

The faculty of overcoming obstacles; aggressive energy; as, he has push, or he has no push.

(countable) A publisher.

A crowd; a company or clique of associates; a gang.

An enclosed storage space (e.g. closet, cupboard).

To press against with force; to drive or impel by pressure; to endeavor to drive by steady pressure, without striking; - opposed to draw.

An exercise in which weight is forced away from the body by extension of the arms or legs.

To thrust the points of the horns against; to gore.

An additional bet in a golf match that duplicates an existing (usually losing) wager in value, but begins even at the time of the bet.

To press or urge forward; to drive; to push an objection too far.

(countable) Pure, unfermented grape juice.

To bear hard upon; to perplex; to embarrass.

A commission to force men into public service, particularly into the navy.

To importune; to press with solicitation; to tease.

(obsolete) A crowd.

To make a thrust; to shove; as, to push with the horns or with a sword.

(psychology) In personology, any environmental factor that arouses a need in the individual.

To make an advance, attack, or effort; to be energetic; as, a man must push in order to succeed.

(ambitransitive) To exert weight or force against, to act upon with force or weight; to exert pressure upon.

To burst pot, as a bud or shoot.

To activate a button or key by exerting a downward or forward force on it, and then releasing it.

The act of applying force in order to move something away;

(transitive) To compress, squeeze.

The force used in pushing;

(transitive) To clasp, hold in an embrace.

Enterprising or ambitious drive;

(transitive) To reduce to a particular shape or form by pressure, especially flatten or smooth.

An electrical switch operated by pressing a button;

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.

An effort to advance;

(transitive) To drive or thrust by pressure, to force in a certain direction.

Move with force,

To weigh upon, oppress, trouble.

Press, drive, or impel (someone) to action or completion of an action;

(transitive) To force to a certain end or result; to urge strongly.

Make publicity for; try to sell (a product);

To try to force (something upon someone).

Strive and make an effort to reach a goal;

(transitive) To hasten, urge onward.

Press against forcefully without being able to move;

(transitive) To urge, beseech, entreat.

Approach a certain age or speed;

(transitive) To lay stress upon.

Exert oneself continuously, vigorously, or obtrusively to gain an end or engage in a crusade for a certain cause or person; be an advocate for;

(ambitransitive) To throng, crowd.

Sell or promote the sale of (illegal goods such as drugs);

To print.

Move strenuously and with effort;

To force into service, particularly into naval service.

Make strenuous pushing movements during birth to expel the baby;

An East Indian insectivore (Tupaia ferruginea). It is arboreal in its habits, and has a bushy tail. The fur is soft, and varies from rusty red to maroon and to brownish black.

A commission to force men into public service, particularly into the navy.

An apparatus or machine by which any substance or body is pressed, squeezed, stamped, or shaped, or by which an impression of a body is taken; sometimes, the place or building containing a press or presses.

Specifically, a printing press.

The art or business of printing and publishing; hence, printed publications, taken collectively, more especially newspapers or the persons employed in writing for them; as, a free press is a blessing, a licentious press is a curse.

An upright case or closet for the safe keeping of articles; as, a clothes press.

The act of pressing or thronging forward.

Urgent demands of business or affairs; urgency; as, a press of engagements.

A multitude of individuals crowded together; crowd of single things; a throng.

To force into service, particularly into naval service; to impress.

To urge, or act upon, with force, as weight; to act upon by pushing or thrusting, in distinction from pulling; to crowd or compel by a gradual and continued exertion; to bear upon; to squeeze; to compress; as, we press the ground with the feet when we walk; we press the couch on which we repose; we press substances with the hands, fingers, or arms; we are pressed in a crowd.

To squeeze, in order to extract the juice or contents of; to squeeze out, or express, from something.

To squeeze in or with suitable instruments or apparatus, in order to compact, make dense, or smooth; as, to press cotton bales, paper, etc.; to smooth by ironing; as, to press clothes.

To embrace closely; to hug.

To oppress; to bear hard upon.

To straiten; to distress; as, to be pressed with want or hunger.

To exercise very powerful or irresistible influence upon or over; to constrain; to force; to compel.

To try to force (something upon some one); to urge or inculcate with earnestness or importunity; to enforce; as, to press divine truth on an audience.

To drive with violence; to hurry; to urge on; to ply hard; as, to press a horse in a race.

To exert pressure; to bear heavily; to push, crowd, or urge with steady force.

To move on with urging and crowding; to make one's way with violence or effort; to bear onward forcibly; to crowd; to throng; to encroach.

To urge with vehemence or importunity; to exert a strong or compelling influence; as, an argument presses upon the judgment.

Newspaper writers and photographers

The state of urgently demanding notice or attention;

The gathering and publishing of news in the form of newspapers or magazines

A machine used for printing

A dense crowd of people

A tall piece of furniture that provides storage space for clothes; has a door and rails or hooks for hanging clothes

Clamp to prevent wooden rackets from warping when not in use

Any machine that exerts pressure to form or shape or cut materials or extract liquids or compress solids

A weightlift in which the barbell is lifted to shoulder height and then smoothly lifted overhead

The act of pressing; the exertion of pressure;

Exert pressure or force to or upon;

Force or impel in an indicated direction;

To be oppressive or burdensome;

Place between two surfaces and apply weight or pressure;

Squeeze or press together;

Crowd closely;

Create by pressing;

Be urgent;

Exert oneself continuously, vigorously, or obtrusively to gain an end or engage in a crusade for a certain cause or person; be an advocate for;

Press from a plastic;

Make strenuous pushing movements during birth to expel the baby;

Lift weights;

Ask for or request earnestly;