push

English

Etymology 1

From Middle English pushen, poshen, posson, borrowed from Middle French pousser (Modern French pousser) from Old French poulser, from Latin pulsare, frequentative of pellere (past participle pulsus) "to beat, strike". Doublet of pulsate. Partly displaced native Old English sċūfan, whence Modern English shove.

Pronunciation
  • enPR: po͝osh, IPA(key): /pʊʃ/
  • (Appalachian) IPA(key): [puʃ][1]
  • Audio (US)(file)
    IPA(key): [pʷʊʃ]
  • Rhymes: -ʊʃ

Verb

push (third-person singular simple present pushes, present participle pushing, simple past and past participle pushed)

  1. (transitive, intransitive) To apply a force to (an object) such that it moves away from the person or thing applying the force.
    In his anger he pushed me against the wall and threatened me.
    You need to push quite hard to get this door open.
  2. (transitive) To continually attempt to persuade (a person) into a particular course of action.
    • December 7, 1710, Jonathan Swift, The Examiner, Number 18
      We are pushed for an answer.
    • December 22, 1711, letter to The Spectator
      Ambition […] pushes the soul to such actions as are apt to procure honour and reputation to the actor.
  3. (transitive) To press or urge forward; to drive.
    to push an objection too far; to push one's luck
  4. (transitive) To continually promote (a point of view, a product for sale, etc.).
    Stop pushing the issue — I'm not interested.
    They're pushing that perfume again.
    There were two men hanging around the school gates today, pushing drugs.
    • 1982 December 11, Frances Russell, “Economic performance buoys Pawley’s position”, in The Vancouver Sun (The Weekend Sun), Vancouver, BC, page A6:
      Earlier the premier had rejected outright suggestions, apparently being pushed by up to a third of the government’s 33-member caucus, that the government forget the deficit and launch a major public initiative to stimulate the economy.
  5. (intransitive) To continually exert oneself in order to achieve a goal.
    • 2016, JoAnneh Nagler, How to be an artist without losing your mind, your shirt, or your creative compass, →ISBN, page 91:
      Don't think that if you keep pushing harder and harder, it will make you succeed faster or earn more.
  6. (informal, transitive, usually in present participle) To approach; to come close to.
    My old car is pushing 250,000 miles.
    He's pushing sixty. ― He's nearly sixty years old.
    • 2023 October 7, Ajesh Patalay, quoting Jon Kung, “The Naked Chef 2.0”, in FT Weekend‎, HTSI, page 77:
      “I'm pushing 40 and on TikTok,” he says. “I feel old every day.”
  7. (intransitive) To tense the muscles in the abdomen in order to give birth or defecate.
    During childbirth, there are times when the obstetrician advises the woman not to push.
  8. (intransitive) To continue to attempt to persuade a person into a particular course of action.
  9. To make a higher bid at an auction.
  10. (poker) To make an all-in bet.
  11. (chess, transitive) To move (a pawn) directly forward.
  12. (computing) To add (a data item) to the top of a stack.
    • 1992, Michael A. Miller, The 68000 Microprocessor Family: Architecture, Programming, and Applications, page 47:
      When the microprocessor decodes the JSR opcode, it stores the operand into the TEMP register and pushes the current contents of the PC ($00 0128) onto the stack.
  13. (computing) To publish (an update, etc.) by transmitting it to other computers.
    • 2002, Lars Powers, Mike Snell, Visual Basic Programmer's Guide to the .NET Framework Class Library, page 968:
      Because this version of the Windows Installer is aware of the GAC, it has the capability to publish components into it. […] You can manually or programmatically push an assembly into the GAC by using the command-line tool Gacutil.exe.
  14. (obsolete) To thrust the points of the horns against; to gore.
  15. To burst out of its pot, as a bud or shoot.
  16. (snooker) To strike the cue ball in such a way that it stays in contact with the cue and object ball at the same time (a foul shot).
Conjugation
Conjugation of push
infinitive (to) push
present tense past tense
1st-person singular push pushed
2nd-person singular push, pushest† pushed, pushedst†
3rd-person singular pushes, pusheth† pushed
plural push
subjunctive push pushed
imperative push —
participles pushing pushed

†Archaic or obsolete.

Synonyms
Antonyms
  • (antonym(s) of “apply a force to something so it moves away”): draw, pull, tug
  • (antonym(s) of “put onto a stack”): pop
Derived terms
Phrasal verbs
Other derived terms
Translations
to thrust the points of the horns against — see gore

Noun

push (countable and uncountable, plural pushes)

  1. A short, directed application of force; an act of pushing.
    Give the door a hard push if it sticks.
  2. An act of tensing the muscles of the abdomen in order to expel its contents.
    One more push and the baby will be out.
  3. A great effort (to do something).
    Some details got lost in the push to get the project done.
    Let's give one last push on our advertising campaign.
    • 2022 February 9, E. Parpart, N. Patanasophon, “Activists push for new ammendment that would give marital rights for all”, in Thai Enquirer‎, retrieved 2022-02-09:
      The push to amend the Civil and Commercial Code on marriage is expected to enter parliament on Wednesday. The amendment would allow same-sex marriage […]
  4. An attempt to persuade someone into a particular course of action.
  5. (figurative) A force that impels or pressures one to act.
    • 1984 April 7, “Mousie Mousie Wildflower (personal advertisement)”, in Gay Community News, page 14:
      I guess it's just
      the special curse
      of working under
      deadline's push
  6. (military) A marching or drill maneuver/manoeuvre performed by moving a formation (especially a company front) forward or toward the audience, usually to accompany a dramatic climax or crescendo in the music.
  7. A wager that results in no loss or gain for the bettor as a result of a tie or even score
  8. (computing) The addition of a data item to the top of a stack.
  9. (Internet, uncountable) The situation where a server sends data to a client without waiting for a request.
    server push; a push technology
  10. (slang, UK, obsolete, now chiefly Australia) A particular crowd or throng or people.
    • 1891, Banjo Paterson, An Evening in Dandaloo:
      Till some wild, excited person
      Galloped down the township cursing,
      "Sydney push have mobbed Macpherson,
      Roll up, Dandaloo!"
    • 1994, David Malouf, A First Place, Vintage, published 2015, page 37:
      My father […] was soon as unambiguously Australian as any other member of the rough Rugby pushes that in the years before the Great War made up the mixed and liverly world of South Brisbane.
  11. (snooker) A foul shot in which the cue ball is in contact with the cue and the object ball at the same time
  12. (professional wrestling slang) Giving momentum to a wrestler's career in the form of victories and/or more screen time.
Derived terms
Translations

Etymology 2

Probably French poche. See pouch.

Pronunciation
  • IPA(key): /pʊʃ/, /pʌʃ/

Noun

push (plural pushes)

  1. (obsolete, UK, dialect) A pustule; a pimple.

References
  1. Brandes, Paul D., and Jeutonne Brewer. 1977. Dialect clash in America: Issues and answers. Metuchen, NJ: Scarecrow Press.

Anagrams

Albanian

Etymology

From Proto-Albanian *puša, from *puksja, from Proto-Indo-European *pewk- (“covered with hair, bushy”). Related to Sanskrit पुच्छ (púccha, “tail”), Proto-Slavic *puxъ (“down”).[1]

Noun

push m (plural pusha, definite pushi, definite plural pushat)

  1. light hair, fluff, down, nap, pile

References
  1. Orel, Vladimir E. (2000) A concise historical grammar of the Albanian language: reconstruction of Proto-Albanian‎, Leiden, Boston, Köln: Brill, →ISBN, page 85
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