im ‧ press S3 W3 /ɪmˈpres/ BrE AmE verb [transitive]
[ Word Family: noun : ↑ impression , ↑ impressionism , ↑ impressionist , ↑ impressiveness ; adjective : ↑ impressionable , ↑ impressive ≠ ↑ unimpressive , ↑ impressionistic , ↑ unimpressed ; adverb : ↑ impressively , ↑ impressionistically ; verb : ↑ impress ]
[ Date: 1300-1400 ; Language: Latin ; Origin: past participle of imprimere , from premere 'to press' ]
1 . [not in progressive] to make someone feel admiration and respect:
Steve borrowed his dad’s sports car to impress his girlfriend.
impress somebody with/by something
We were very impressed by the standard of work.
One candidate in particular impressed us with her knowledge.
I think the chief exec was favourably impressed by your presentation.
‘He’s a lawyer?’ Mum looked suitably impressed (=as impressed as you would expect) .
2 . to make the importance of something clear to someone
impress something on somebody
Father impressed on me the value of hard work.
3 . to press something into a soft surface so that a mark or pattern appears on it:
patterns impressed in the clay