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piece of metal on which anything is engraved for the purpose of being printed; hence, an impression from the engraved metal; as, a book illustrated with plates; a fashion plate.

The part of a printing press which presses the paper against the type and by which the impression is made.

Porcelain jasper. (Min.) See Porcelanite. -- Porcelain printing, the transferring of an impression of an engraving to porcelain. -- Porcelain shell (Zoöl.), a cowry.

Previous fitness or adaptation to any change, impression, or purpose; susceptibility; -- applied to material things; as, the predisposition of the body to disease.

Preoccupation of the mind by an opinion, or impression, already formed; preconceived opinion; previous impression; bias; -- generally, but not always, used in a favorable sense; as, the prepossessions of childhood. "The prejudices and prepossessions of the country." Sir W. Scott.

vious sentiment, conception, or opinion; previous apprehension; especially, an antecedent impression or conviction of something unpleasant, distressing, or calamitous, about to happen; anticipation of evil; foreboding.

To force into service, particularly into naval service; to impress. To peaceful peasant to the wars is pressed. Dryden.

A proof taken on a press, esp. to show impression, margins, color, etc.

Impression; stamp; character impressed. All saws of books, all forms, all pressures past. Shak.

Pleasing by delicacy or grace; attracting, but not striking or impressing; of a pleasing and attractive form a color; having slight or diminutive beauty; neat or elegant without elevation or grandeur; pleasingly, but not grandly, conceived or expressed; as, a pretty face; a pretty flower; a pretty poem. This is the pre…

To equip with principles; to establish, or fix, in certain principles; to impress with any tenet, or rule of conduct, good or ill. Governors should be well principled. L'Estrange. Let an enthusiast be principled that he or his teacher is inspired. Locke.

To fix or impress, as a stamp, mark, character, idea, etc., into or upon something. A look will print a thought that never may remove. Surrey. Upon his breastplate he beholds a dint, Which in that field young Edward's sword did print. Sir John Beaumont. Perhaps some footsteps printed in the clay. Roscommon.…

The act, art, or practice of impressing letters, characters, or figures on paper, cloth, or other material; the business of a printer, including typesetting and presswork, with their adjuncts; typography; also, the act of producing photographic prints. Block printing. See under Block. -- Printing frame (Photog.), a sh…

Characterized by intensity; deeply felt; pervading; overmastering; far-reaching; strongly impressed; as, a profound sleep. "Profound sciatica." Shak. Of the profound corruption of this class there can be no doubt. Milman.

The quality or state of having been proved or tried; firmness or hardness that resists impression, or does not yield to force; impenetrability of physical bodies.

To take a trial impression of; to take a proof of; as, to prove a page.

an. Psychophysical time (Physiol.), the time required for the mind to transform a sensory impression into a motor impulse. It is an important part of physiological or reaction time. See under Reaction.

To take or make, as a proof or impression; -- hand presses being worked by pulling a lever.

To return an impulse or impression; to resist the action of another body by an opposite force; as, every body reacts on the body that impels it from its natural state.

eactance is measured in ohms. The reactance of a circuit is equal to the component of the impressed electro-motive force at right angles to the current divided by the current, that is, the component of the impedance due to the self-inductance or capacity of the circuit.