- Impression
- Impression Im*pres"sion, n. [F. impression, L. impressio.]
1. The act of impressing, or the state of being impressed;
the communication of a stamp, mold, style, or character,
by external force or by influence.
[1913 Webster]
2. That which is impressed; stamp; mark; indentation; sensible result of an influence exerted from without. [1913 Webster]
The stamp and clear impression of good sense. --Cowper. [1913 Webster]
To shelter us from impressions of weather, we must spin, we must weave, we must build. --Barrow. [1913 Webster]
3. That which impresses, or exercises an effect, action, or agency; appearance; phenomenon. [Obs.] [1913 Webster]
Portentous blaze of comets and impressions in the air. --Milton. [1913 Webster]
A fiery impression falling from out of Heaven. --Holland. [1913 Webster]
4. Influence or effect on the senses or the intellect hence, interest, concern. --Reid. [1913 Webster]
His words impression left. --Milton. [1913 Webster]
Such terrible impression made the dream. --Shak. [1913 Webster]
I have a father's dear impression, And wish, before I fall into my grave, That I might see her married. --Ford. [1913 Webster]
5. An indistinct notion, remembrance, or belief. [1913 Webster]
6. Impressiveness; emphasis of delivery. [1913 Webster]
Which must be read with an impression. --Milton. [1913 Webster]
7. (Print.) The pressure of the type on the paper, or the result of such pressure, as regards its appearance; as, a heavy impression; a clear, or a poor, impression; also, a single copy as the result of printing, or the whole edition printed at a given time; as, a copy from the fifth impression. [1913 Webster]
Ten impressions which his books have had. --Dryden. [1913 Webster]
8. In painting, the first coat of color, as the priming in house painting and the like. [R.] [1913 Webster]
9. (Engraving) A print on paper from a wood block, metal plate, or the like. [1913 Webster]
{Proof impression}, one of the early impressions taken from an engraving, before the plate or block is worn. [1913 Webster]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English. 2000.
