pressure

noun pres·sure \ ˈpre-shər \

Definition of pressure

1 a :the burden of physical or mental distress

b :the constraint of circumstance :the weight of social or economic imposition

2 :the application of force to something by something else in direct contact with it :compression

3 archaic :impression, stamp

4 a :the action of a force against an opposing force

b :the force or thrust exerted over a surface divided by its area

c :electromotive force

5 :the stress or urgency of matters demanding attention :exigency

people who work well under pressure

6 :the force of selection that results from one or more agents and tends to reduce a population of organisms

population pressure

predation pressure

7 :the pressure exerted in every direction by the weight of the atmosphere

8 :a sensation aroused by moderate compression of a body part or surface

—

pressureless

adjective

See pressure defined for English-language learners

See pressure defined for kids

Examples of pressure in a Sentence

Apply pressure to the wound to stop the bleeding.
the pressure of the compressed air inside the chamber
The animal's jaws can exert a pressure of more than 750 pounds per square inch.
The horse will respond to the slightest pressure of a rider's knee.
The fruit yields to gentle pressure when it's ripe.
the normal air pressure at sea level
He gave in to the social pressures to act and dress like everybody else.
She felt a constant pressure to earn more money.

Recent Examples of pressure from the Web

For some, an immense pressure to make more stops resulted in pulling over drivers who seemed easy to deal with and wouldn’t take a lot of time to process.

— jsonline.com, "Trust damaged between Milwaukee police and community, Department of Justice draft report says," 30 Aug. 2017
Palestinians have expressed frustration with Trump’s approach and are trying to ratchet up international pressure for a settlement freeze, an action Netanyahu dismisses as useless.

— fadwa hodali, Bloomberg.com, "UN's Guterres Says Israel Must Cease Settlement Construction," 29 Aug. 2017
The monsoon also spins up low-pressure systems that enter the hurricane nursery of the tropical Atlantic.

— julia rosen, Science | AAAS, "Human influence may prolong ocean cycle that gave birth to Harvey," 29 Aug. 2017
But after TMZ published the photo, Cooper came under tremendous pressure to repudiate it.

— yashar ali, The Cut, "Off With Her Head," 27 Aug. 2017
This team needs to generate pressure to succeed against the likes of Joe Flacco and Ben Roethlisberger in the AFC North.

— paul daugherty, Cincinnati.com, "Doc: Outsiders don’t get these Cincinnati Bengals," 26 Aug. 2017
Others rejected from the military displayed signs of poor sleep, bad eyesight, high blood pressure and excessive sweating.

— max londberg and katy bergen, kansascity, "Why aren’t Chinese military recruits fit? Video games and excessive masturbation, report says.," 25 Aug. 2017
As the climate changed, opening vast grasslands in the region, early horses moved onto the plains, with selective pressure leading to a larger body mass.

— jason daley, Smithsonian, "Why Horses and Their Ilk Are the Only One-Toed Animals Still Standing," 25 Aug. 2017
According to Musk, the suit is not just a mockup but has been tested to double vacuum pressure.

— eric limer, Popular Mechanics, "Elon Musk Teases the First Image of the SpaceX Spacesuit," 23 Aug. 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'pressure.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of pressure

Middle English, from Anglo-French, from Late Latin pressura, from Latin, action of pressing, pressure, from pressus, past participle of premere

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 14th century

See Words from the same year

pressure Synonyms

Synonyms

stress, strain, tension

Related Words

load, weight; anxiety, concern, uneasiness, worry; aggravation, anger, annoyance, exasperation, irritation, persecution, trouble

Near Antonyms

comfort, consolation

pressure

verb

Definition of pressure

pressured; pressuring play \ˈpre-sh(ə-)riŋ\

transitive verb

1 :to apply pressure to

2 :pressurize

3 :to cook in a pressure cooker

See pressure defined for English-language learners

Examples of pressure in a Sentence

his father pressured him to go out for the swim team

Recent Examples of pressure from the Web

But Mr. González Jr. has leveraged his privilege, pressuring his peers to take on social issues.

— azam ahmed, New York Times, "A Scion of Mexico Fights Corruption, and Becomes a Target," 30 Aug. 2017
As Snap, the latest IPO that has fizzled, may be showing, when a hot growth story turns cold and investors lack voting rights, there’s no opportunity for an activist or turnaround investor to come in and pressure management.

— conor sen, The Seattle Times, "Pirates at tech companies take note: You’re in the navy now," 27 Aug. 2017
This is a guy who is having his employees pressure poor, elderly people to max out their credit cards in exchange for fake knowledge.

— conor friedersdorf, The Atlantic, "Scott Adams's Nihilistic Defense of Donald Trump," 21 Aug. 2017
The government, often acting through informants, then actively developed the plot, persuading and sometimes pressuring the targets to participate, and provided the resources to carry it out.

— adam k. raymond, Daily Intelligencer, "Man Accused of Right-Wing Bomb Plot Is Mentally Ill, Was Entrapped, Family Says," 16 Aug. 2017
The wide net the F.B.I. has cast is prompting speculation that the Justice Department might be trying to build a case against Manafort unrelated to the 2016 election in order to pressure the political operative into becoming a cooperating witness.

— abigail tracy, The Hive, "Is Bob Mueller Trying to Break Paul Manafort?," 10 Aug. 2017
Lundblad and Jones allege that Salk administrators have for years disparaged their work, shut them out of advancement opportunities, pressured them to shrink their labs, and prevented them from being considered for lucrative grants.

— meredith wadman, Science | AAAS, "Salk Institute under fire for ‘smear’ on women suing it for discrimination," 19 July 2017
Despite the school pressuring its social organizations to go co-ed, Harvard's Fox Club has revoked the provisional memberships of nine women, and effectively returned to being an all-male association.

— caroline hallemann, Town & Country, "Harvard's Fox Club Is All-Male Once Again," 5 July 2017
For their part, insurers may heavily pressure states to make such changes, analysts said.

— jay hancock, Kaiser Health News, "Promises Made To Protect Preexisting Conditions Prove Hollow," 22 June 2017

First Known Use of pressure

1938

pressure Synonyms

Synonyms

blackjack, coerce, compel, constrain, dragoon, drive, impel, impress, make, muscle, obligate, oblige, press, force, sandbag

Related Words

browbeat, bulldoze, bully, cow, hector, intimidate; blackmail, high-pressure, menace, shame, terrorize, threaten; drag; badger, harass, hound

Near Antonyms

allow, let, permit; argue, convince, induce, move, persuade, prevail (on or upon), satisfy, talk (into), win (over)

PRESSURE Defined for English Language Learners

pressure

noun

Definition of pressure for English Language Learners

: the weight or force that is produced when something presses or pushes against something else
: the action of pressing or pushing against something
: the weight of the air in the Earth's atmosphere

pressure

verb

Definition of pressure for English Language Learners

: to use pressure to force or try to force (someone) to do something

PRESSURE Defined for Kids

pressure

noun pres·sure \ ˈpre-shər \

Definition of pressure for Students

1 :the action of pushing steadily against

2 :a force or influence that cannot be avoided

social pressure

3 :the force with which one body presses against another

4 :the need to get things done

Mom works well under pressure.

Medical Dictionary

pressure

noun pres·sure \ ˈpresh-ər \

medical Definition of pressure

1 :the burden of mental or physical distress especially from grief, illness, or adversity

2 :the application of force to something by something else in direct contact with it :compression

3 a :the action of a force against some opposing force :a force in the nature of a thrust distributed over a surface

b :the force or thrust exerted over a surface divided by the area of the surface

4 :electromotive force

5 :atmospheric pressure

6 :a touch sensation aroused by moderate compression of the skin

Learn More about pressure

Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for pressure Spanish Central: Translation of pressure Nglish: Translation of pressure for Spanish speakers Britannica English: Translation of pressure for Arabic speakers Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about pressure

Seen and Heard

What made you want to look up pressure? Please tell us where you read or heard it (including the quote, if possible).

show

pressure

Definition of pressure

pressureless

Explore M-W

Examples of pressure in a Sentence

Recent Examples of pressure from the Web

Origin and Etymology of pressure

pressure Synonyms

Synonyms

Related Words

Near Antonyms

pressure

Definition of pressure

Examples of pressure in a Sentence

Recent Examples of pressure from the Web

First Known Use of pressure

pressure Synonyms

Synonyms

Related Words

Near Antonyms

Phrases Related to PRESSURE

Related Phrases

PRESSURE Defined for English Language Learners

pressure

Definition of pressure for English Language Learners

pressure

Definition of pressure for English Language Learners

PRESSURE Defined for Kids

pressure

Definition of pressure for Students

Medical Dictionary

pressure

medical Definition of pressure

Learn More about pressure

Seen and Heard

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Words at Play

Ask the Editors

Word Games

Learned Fools: On Names for Students

Trending: NY Times: Trump's Call Ignites 'Imbroglio'

The Exceptions Quiz III

17 English Words that Come From Japanese

Words of the Year: 1066