PRESS, in the Woollen Manufactory, is a large wooden machine, serving to press cloths, serges, rateens, &c. thereby to render them smooth and even, and to give them a gloss.
This machine consists of several members; the principal whereof are the cheeks, the nut, and the worm or screw, accompanied with its bar, which serves to turn it round, and make it descend perpendicularly on the middle of a thick wooden plank, under which the stuffs to be pressed are placed. The CALENDER is also a kind of press, serving to press or calender linens, silks, &c.
Liberty of the PRESS. See LIBERTY of the Press.