Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913

Impress

Impress , transitive verb

[Latin impressus, past participle of imprimere to impress; pref. im- in, on + premere to press. See Press to squeeze, and compare Imprint.]

1.
To press, stamp, or print something in or upon; to mark by pressure, or as by pressure; to imprint (that which bears the impression).
His heart, like an agate, with your print impressed. — Shakespeare
2.
To produce by pressure, as a mark, stamp, image, etc.; to imprint (a mark or figure upon something).
3.
To fix deeply in the mind; to present forcibly to the attention, etc.; to imprint; to inculcate.
Impress the motives of persuasion upon our own hearts till we feel the force of them. — I. Watts
4.
To take by force for public service; as, to impress sailors or money.
The second five thousand pounds impressed for the service of the sick and wounded prisoners. — Evelyn

Impress , intransitive verb

To be impressed; to rest. [Obsolete]
Such fiendly thoughts in his heart impress. — Chaucer

Impress , noun

1.
The act of impressing or making.
2.
A mark made by pressure; an indentation; imprint; the image or figure of anything, formed by pressure or as if by pressure; result produced by pressure or influence.
The impresses of the insides of these shells. — Woodward
This weak impress of love is as a figure Trenched in ice. — Shakespeare
3.
Characteristic; mark of distinction; stamp. — South
4.
A device. See Impresa. — Cussans
To describe... emblazoned shields, Impresses quaint. — Milton
5.
The act of impressing, or taking by force for the public service; compulsion to serve; also, that which is impressed.
Why such impress of shipwrights? — Shakespeare
Collocations (2)
Impress gang , a party of men, with an officer, employed to impress seamen for ships of war; a press gang.
Impress money , a sum of money paid, immediately upon their entering service, to men who have been impressed.