pressure cooker

1 of 2

noun

1

: an airtight utensil for quick cooking or preserving of foods by means of high-temperature steam under pressure

2

: a situation or environment that is fraught with emotional or social pressures

pressure-cook verb

pressure-cook

2 of 2

verb

: to cook in a pressure cooker

Examples of pressure cooker in a Sentence

Noun

The new boss has turned the office into a pressure cooker.

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

And then seven minutes in, the whole thing lifted like a pressure cooker releasing the steam. —Dana O’Neil, CNN Money, 13 June 2026

The pressure cooker of veterinary school, combined with my disconnection from nature and from the people who loved me and knew me best, left me increasingly isolated, lonely and depleted. —Brad Ryan, PEOPLE, 13 June 2026

Steaming eggs is the best cooking method for easy peeling, but stovetop boiling, pressure cookers, and ovens also work. —Katlyn Moncada, Better Homes & Gardens, 5 June 2026

Vast clouds of soot that form in the pressure cooker of mysterious mini-Neptune exoplanets may hold the truth about these worlds' origins. —Keith Cooper, Space.com, 4 June 2026

Word History

Etymology

Verb

back-formation from pressure cooker

First Known Use

Noun

1915, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for pressure cooker

• booker
• looker
• rooker
• snooker
• onlooker

Kids Definition

pressure cooker

noun

: a utensil for cooking or preserving foods by means of steam under pressure

pressure-cook

ˌpresh-ər-ˈku̇k

verb