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From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Pressure \Pres"sure\ (?; 138), noun [OF., fr. L. pressura, fr. premere. See 4th {Press}.]
1. The act of pressing, or the condition of being pressed; compression; a squeezing; a crushing; as, a pressure of the hand.
2. A contrasting force or impulse of any kind; as, the pressure of poverty; the pressure of taxes; the pressure of motives on the mind; the pressure of civilization.
Where the pressure of danger was not felt. --Macaulay.
3. Affliction; distress; grievance.
My people's pressures are grievous. --Eikon Basilike.
In the midst of his great troubles and pressures. --Atterbury.
4. Urgency; as, the pressure of business.
5. Impression; stamp; character impressed.
All saws of books, all forms, all pressures past. --Shak.
6. (Mech.) The action of a force against some obstacle or opposing force; a force in the nature of a thrust, distributed over a surface, often estimated with reference to the amount upon a unit's area.
7. Electro-motive force. [Webster 1913 Suppl.]
{Atmospheric pressure}, {Center of pressure}, etc. See under {Atmospheric}, {Center}, etc.
{Back pressure} (Steam engine), pressure which resists the motion of the piston, as the pressure of exhaust steam which does not find free outlet.
{Fluid pressure}, pressure like that exerted by a fluid. It is a thrust which is normal and equally intense in all directions around a point. --Rankine.
{Pressure gauge}, a gauge for indicating fluid pressure; a manometer.
From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [wn]:
noun
1: the force applied to a unit area of surface; measured in pascals (SI unit) or in dynes (cgs unit); "the compressed gas exerts an increased pressure" [syn: {pressure}, {pressure level}, {force per unit area}]
2: a force that compels; "the public brought pressure to bear on the government"
3: the act of pressing; the exertion of pressure; "he gave the button a press"; "he used pressure to stop the bleeding"; "at the pressing of a button" [syn: {press}, {pressure}, {pressing}]
4: the state of demanding notice or attention; "the insistence of their hunger"; "the press of business matters" [syn: {imperativeness}, {insistence}, {insistency}, {press}, {pressure}]
5: the somatic sensation that results from applying force to an area of skin; "the sensitivity of his skin to pressure and temperature was normal" [syn: {pressure}, {pressure sensation}]
6: an oppressive condition of physical or mental or social or economic distress
7: the pressure exerted by the atmosphere [syn: {atmospheric pressure}, {air pressure}, {pressure}]
verb
1: to cause to do through pressure or necessity, by physical, moral or intellectual means :"She forced him to take a job in the city"; "He squeezed her for information" [syn: {coerce}, {hale}, {squeeze}, {pressure}, {force}]
2: exert pressure on someone through threats [syn: {blackmail}, {blackjack}, {pressure}]
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Definitions retrieved from the Open Source DICT Webster's English and WordNet 3.0 dictionaries. Click here for database copyright information.
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