PRESS (PRELUM), in the mechanic arts, a machine made of iron or wood, serving to squeeze or compress any body very close.
The ordinary presses consist of six members, or pieces; viz. two flat smooth planks; between which the things to be pressed are laid; two screws, or worms, fastened to the lower plank, and passing through two holes in the upper; and two nuts, in form of an S, serving to drive the upper plank, which is moveable, against the lower, which is stable, and without motion.