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 impart to them a gloss.
This machine consists of several members, the principal whereof are the checks, the nut, and the worm or screw, accompanied with its bar, which serves to turn it round, and make it descend perpendicularly upon the middle of a thick wooden plank, under which the stuffs to be pressed are placed.