Pressed on amid dire trouble (6)
I believe the answer is:
ironed
'pressed' is the definition.
(ironing is a kind of pressing)
'on amid dire trouble' is the wordplay.
'amid' is an insertion indicator.
'trouble' is an anagram indicator.
'dire' is an anagram of 'ired'.
'on' inserted into 'ired' is 'IRONED'.
(Other definitions for ironed that I've seen before include "prepared for 23 [WARDROBE] ?" , "Removed creases" , "flattened" , "Made smooth, shirt or collar" , "De Niro (anag)" .)