Idiom
press into service
Meaning
To make someone perform a task or duty, especially one they are not prepared or willing to do; to make something serve a function, especially one it was not designed or intended for.
Meaning adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Examples
“We pressed the old chair into service as a desk.”
“When the main projector broke, we pressed a laptop into service to show the presentation.”
“Lacking sufficient professional staff, the commander pressed the untrained volunteers into service to help defend the city walls.”
Examples
simple
“We pressed the old chair into service as a desk.”
contextual
“When the main projector broke, we pressed a laptop into service to show the presentation.”
complex
“Lacking sufficient professional staff, the commander pressed the untrained volunteers into service to help defend the city walls.”
Key words
Related idioms
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