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pressure |
3 definitions found From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]: Pressure \Pres"sure\, n. Electro-motive force. From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]: Pressure \Pres"sure\ (?; 138), n. [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 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. From WordNet r 1.6 [wn]: pressure n 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: {force per unit area}] 2: a force that compels; "the public brought pressure to bear on the government" 3: the act of pressing; "he gave the button a press"; "he used pressure to stop the bleeding" [syn: {press}, {pressing}] 4: the state of urgently demanding notice or attention; "the press of business matters" [syn: {imperativeness}, {insistence}, {insistency}, {press}] 5: the somatic sensation of pressure; "the sensitivity of his skin to pressure and temperature was normal" [syn: {pressure sensation}] v 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" [syn: {coerce}, {force}] 2: exert pressure on someone through threats [syn: {blackmail}, {blackjack}]
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