Impressment Definitions

Webster's 1828 Dictionary

IMPRESS'MENT, n. The act of impressing men into public service; as the impressment of seamen.
1. The act of compelling into any service; as the impressment of nurses to attend the sick.
2. The act of seizing for public use; as the impressment of provisions for the army.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: the act of coercing someone into government service [syn: impress, impressment]

Merriam Webster's

noun Date: 1787 the act of seizing for public use or of impressing into public service

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Impressment Im*press"ment, n. The act of seizing for public use, or of impressing into public service; compulsion to serve; as, the impressment of provisions or of sailors. The great scandal of our naval service -- impressment -- died a protracted death. --J. H. Burton.

Moby Thesaurus

abduction, angary, annexation, annexure, attachment, call, call-up, collectivization, commandeering, communalization, communization, compulsory military service, confiscation, conscription, crimping, distraint, distress, draft, draft call, drafting, eminent domain, enlistment, enrollment, execution, expropriation, garnishment, impoundment, induction, kidnapping, levy, mobilization, muster, nationalization, press, recruiting, recruitment, right of angary, selective service, sequestration, shanghaiing, socialization, summons