crush vs press

crush

noun
  • A drink made by squeezing the juice out of fruit. 

  • A standing stock or cage with movable sides used to restrain livestock for safe handling. 

  • The human object of such infatuation or affection. 

  • A crowd that produces uncomfortable pressure. 

  • The process of crushing cane to remove the raw sugar, or the season when this process takes place. 

  • A violent collision or compression; a crash; destruction; ruin. 

  • A group or gang. 

  • A crowd control barrier. 

  • The situation where certain colors are so similar as to be hard to distinguish, either as a deliberate effect or as a limitation of a display. 

  • A paraphilia involving arousal from seeing things destroyed by crushing. 

  • A violent crowding. 

  • Violent pressure, as of a moving crowd. 

  • An infatuation with somebody one is not dating. 

verb
  • To press between two hard objects; to squeeze so as to alter the natural shape or integrity, or to force together into a mass. 

  • To reduce to fine particles by pounding or grinding. 

  • To be or become broken down or in, or pressed into a smaller volume or area, by external weight or force. 

  • To feel infatuation or unrequited love. 

  • To give a compressed or foreshortened appearance to. 

  • To overwhelm by pressure or weight. 

  • To make certain colors so similar as to be hard to distinguish, either as a deliberate effect or as a limitation of a display. 

  • To do impressively well at (sports events; performances; interviews; etc.). 

  • To oppress or grievously burden. 

  • To overcome completely; to subdue totally. 

press

noun
  • Pure, unfermented grape juice. 

  • A printing machine. 

  • An exercise in which weight is forced away from the body by extension of the arms or legs. 

  • In personology, any environmental factor that arouses a need in the individual. 

  • An instance of applying pressure; an instance of pressing. 

  • A publisher. 

  • The print-based media (both the people and the newspapers). 

  • A commission to force men into public service, particularly into the navy. 

  • An additional bet in a golf match that duplicates an existing (usually losing) wager in value, but begins even at the time of the bet. 

  • An enclosed storage space (e.g. closet, cupboard). 

  • A device used to apply pressure to an item. 

verb
  • To hasten, urge onward. 

  • To lay stress upon. 

  • To throng, crowd. 

  • To force into service, particularly into naval service. 

  • To flatten a selected area of fabric using an iron with an up-and-down, not sliding, motion, so as to avoid disturbing adjacent areas. 

  • To urge, beseech, entreat. 

  • To reduce to a particular shape or form by pressure, especially flatten or smooth. 

  • To compress, squeeze. 

  • To activate a button or key by exerting a downward or forward force on it, and then releasing it. 

  • To force to a certain end or result; to urge strongly. 

  • To try to force (something upon someone). 

  • To exert weight or force against, to act upon with force or weight; to exert pressure upon. 

  • To clasp, hold in an embrace. 

  • To drive or thrust by pressure, to force in a certain direction. 

How often have the words crush and press occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )