pressure

Definitions

1. 1.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.
2. 2.Affliction; distress; grievance. My people's pressures are grievous. Eikon Basilike. In the midst of his great troubles and pressures. Atterbury.
3. 3.Urgency; as, the pressure of business.
4. 4.Impression; stamp; character impressed. All saws of books, all forms, all pressures past. Shak.
5. 5.(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 upon a unit's area. 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.

Source: Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913 edition (public domain, via GCIDE / Project Gutenberg).

Synonyms

Related questions

• What does "pressure" mean?
• What is another word for "pressure"?

Reverse-dictionary questions

Definition-first questions whose answer is pressure.

• What is affliction; distress; grievance. My people's pressures are grievous. Eikon Basilike. In the midst of his great troubles and pressures. Atterbury called?
• What is impression; stamp; character impressed. All saws of books, all forms, all pressures past. Shak called?