Pressure /(?; 138)/

Pres·sure

Pressure

n.
  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.
  3. Affliction; distress; grievance.
    My people's pressures are grievous.
    — Eikon Basilike.
    In the midst of his great troubles and pressures.
  4. Urgency; as, the pressure of business.
  5. Impression; stamp; character impressed.
    All saws of books, all forms, all pressures past.
  6. 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. (Mech.)
  7. Electro-motive force.

Phrases & Compounds
Atmospheric pressure
See under Atmospheric, Center, etc.
Back pressure
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.
Pressure gauge
a gauge for indicating fluid pressure; a manometer.