pressure. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000.

The American Heritage^® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000.

pressure

SYLLABICATION:	pres·sure
PRONUNCIATION:	prshr
NOUN:	1a. The act of pressing. b. The condition of being pressed. 2. The application of continuous force by one body on another that it is touching; compression. 3. abbr. P Physics Force applied uniformly over a surface, measured as force per unit of area. 4. Meteorology Atmospheric pressure. 5. A compelling or constraining influence, such as a moral force, on the mind or will: pressure to conform; peer-group pressure. 6. Urgent claim or demand: under the pressure of business; doesn't work well under pressure. 7. An oppressive condition of physical, mental, social, or economic distress. 8. A physical sensation produced by compression of a part of the body. 9. Archaic A mark made by application of force or weight; an impression.
TRANSITIVE VERB:	Inflected forms: pres·sured, pres·sur·ing, pres·sures 1. To force, as by overpowering influence or persuasion. 2. To pressurize. 3. To pressure-cook.
ETYMOLOGY:	Middle English, from Old French, from Latin pressra, from pressus, past participle of premere, to press. See per-⁴ in Appendix I.


The American Heritage^® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by the Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.