Pres"sure (?), n.
Electro-motive force.
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 amount
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.
Hear it pronounced