spremere

Spremere is an Italian verb meaning to press or squeeze to extract liquid, especially juice, from fruits or vegetables. It is commonly used for both culinary contexts (spremere le arance, spremere il limone) and metaphorical ones, such as extracting resources or information from someone (spremere i risparmi, spremere qualcuno).

Etymology and related terms: Spremere derives from the Latin premere, with a prefixal development in Italian that intensifies the action. It is part of a family of Romance verbs related to pressing or squeezing; cognates include Spanish exprimir and French presser. The noun spremuta denotes the juice obtained from pressing, while spremitura refers to the act or process of pressing.

Usage and grammar: Spremere is a transitive, regular -ere verb. In the present indicative, the forms are io spremo, tu spremi, lui/lei spreme, noi spremiamo, voi spremete, loro spremono. The past participle is spremuto, used with avere, for example: Ho spremuto due arance. The verb can be used both for physical squeezing and for figurative pressure, such as “spremere gli ultimi risparmi” (to squeeze out the last savings).

Derived forms and nouns: Spremuta is the juice produced by pressing. Spremiagrumi is a citrus juicer. Spremitura refers to the act or result of pressing for juice.

See also: Related actions include strizzare (to wring) and pressare (to press). Spremere remains a common, versatile verb in Italian for everyday cooking and expressive language.