pressure

pressure (ˈprɛʃə)

—n
1.	the state of pressing or being pressed
2.	the exertion of force by one body on the surface of another
3.	a moral force that compels: to bring pressure to bear
4.	an urgent claim or demand or series of urgent claims or demands: to work under pressure
5.	a burdensome condition that is hard to bear: the pressure of grief
6.	p, P the normal force applied to a unit area of a surface, usually measured in pascals (newtons per square metre), millibars, torr, or atmospheres
7.	atmospheric pressure short for blood pressure

—vb
8.	(tr) to constrain or compel, as by the application of moral force
9.	another word for pressurize

[C14: from Late Latin pressūra a pressing, from Latin premere to press]

'pressureless

—*adj*

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
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Etymonline

Word Origin & History

pressure

1382, "act or fact of pressing on the mind or heart," from O.Fr. pressure (12c.), from L. pressura "action of pressing," from pressus, pp. of premere "to press" (see press (v.1)). Literal meaning "act or fact of pressing" in a physical sense is attested from 1601. Scientific

sense in physics is from 1660. The verb meaning "to exert pressure on" is attested from 1939, Amer.Eng. Pressure cooker is attested from 1915; fig. sense is from 1958.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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American Heritage

Medical Dictionary

pressure pres·sure (prěsh'ər)
n.

The act of pressing or condition of being pressed.
A stress or force acting in any direction against resistance.
Force applied uniformly over a surface, measured as force per unit of area.

American Heritage

Science Dictionary

pressure

(prěsh'ər) Pronunciation Key
The force per unit area that one region of a gas, liquid, or solid exerts on another. Pressure is usually measured in Pascal units, atmospheres, or pounds per square inch. ◇ A substance is said to have negative pressure if some other substance exerts more force per unit area on it than vice versa. Its value is simply the negative of the pressure exerted by the other substance.

American Heritage

Cultural Dictionary

pressure definition

The force exerted on a given area. (See atmospheric pressure.)

Note: The most familiar measure of pressure is psi (pounds per square inch), used to rate pressure in automobile and bicycle tires.

Example sentences

But the majority of these apps merely make it easier for patients to record

health measures, such as weight or blood pressure.

The high gas concentration is thought to be because of the enormous weight and

pressure of the continental ice cap.

Researchers says the link between obesity and more severe swine flu may be

explained by physical pressure on the lungs.

They put the pressure on and they don't let off.

Want pressure ad-free? Click here!

print atmosphere autoclave blast wave break decompression

Matching Quote

"The purpose of playing, whose end, both at the first and now,
was and is, to hold as 'twere the mirror up to nature: to show
virtue her feature, scorn her own image, and the very age and
body of the time his form and pressure."

-Shakespeare