push

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

• intransitive verb To apply pressure against (something), especially for the purpose of moving it.
• intransitive verb To move (something) by exerting force against it; thrust or shove.
• intransitive verb To exert downward pressure on (a button or keyboard, for example); press.
• intransitive verb To force (one's way).
• intransitive verb To urge forward or urge insistently; pressure.
• intransitive verb To extend or enlarge.
• intransitive verb Informal To approach in age.
• intransitive verb Informal To promote or sell (a product).
• intransitive verb Slang To sell (a narcotic) illegally.
• intransitive verb Sports To hit (a ball) in the direction toward the dominant hand of the player propelling it, as to the right of a right-handed player.
• intransitive verb To exert pressure or force against something.
• intransitive verb To advance despite difficulty or opposition; press forward.
• intransitive verb To advocate or recommend something insistently.
• intransitive verb To expend great or vigorous effort.
• noun The act of pushing; a thrust.
• noun The act of pressing.
• noun A vigorous or insistent effort toward an end; a drive.
• noun A provocation to action; a stimulus.
• noun Informal Persevering energy; enterprise.
• idiom (push paper) To have one's time taken up by administrative, often seemingly petty, paperwork.
• idiom (push up daisies) To be dead and buried.
• idiom (when/if) At a point when the situation must be confronted and dealt with.

from The Century Dictionary.

• Same as pish.
• In cricket, to guide or force (the ball) away from the wicket with the bat, usually to the ‘on’ side.
• noun A thrust; the exercise of a driving or impelling thrust; the application of pressure intended to overturn or set in motion in the direction in which the force or pressure is applied; a shove: as, to give a thing or a person a push.
• noun An assault or attack; a forcible onset; a vigorous effort; a stroke; a blow.
• noun An emergency; a trial; an extremity.
• noun Persevering energy; enterprise.
• noun A button, pin, or similar contrivance to be pushed in conveying pressure: as, the electric bell-push.
• noun A pustule; a pimple.
• noun In cricket, a stroke by which the ball is guided or forced away from the wicket, usually to the ‘on’ side.
• noun A gang; a set of hoodlums; in thieves' English, a set of men associated for a special robbery; hence, a clique; a party: the Government House push; to be in with the push.
• To strike with a thrusting motion; thrust, as with a sword; thrust or gore, as with the horns.
• To thrust forcibly against for the purpose of moving or impelling in a direction other than that from which the pressure is applied; exert a thrusting, driving, or impelling pressure upon; drive or impel by pressure; shove: opposed to draw: as, to push a hand-cart; to push a thing up, down, away, etc.
• To impel in general; drive; urge.
• To press or urge; advance or extend by persistent or diligent effort or exertion: as, to push on a work.
• To prosecute or carry on with energy or enterprise; use every means to extend and advance: as, to push one's business; to push the sale of a commodity.
• To press hard.
• Synonyms To hustle, jostle, elbow, crowd, force. See thrust.
• To thrust, as with the horns or with a sword: hence, to make an attack.
• To exercise or put forth a thrusting or impelling pressure; use steady force in moving something in a direction the opposite of that implied in the word draw: as, to push with all one's might.
• To advance or proceed with persistence or unflagging effort; force one's way; press eagerly or persistently; hasten; usually with on, forward, etc.: as, to push on at a rapid pace.
• To sit abaft an oar and propel a boat with forward strokes: as, to push down a stream.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

• noun Obs. or Prov. Eng. A pustule; a pimple.