GNU Collaborative International Dictionary of English

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1.       
   Pressure , n. [OF., fr. L. pressura, fr. premere. See 4th Press.]
   The act of pressing, or the condition of being pressed; compression; a squeezing; a crushing; as, a pressure of the hand.
   1913 Webster
   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.
   1913 Webster
   Where the pressure of danger was not felt.
   Macaulay.
   
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   Affliction; distress; grievance.
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   My people's pressures are grievous.
   Eikon Basilike.
   
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   In the midst of his great troubles and pressures.
   Atterbury.
   
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   Urgency; as, the pressure of business.
   1913 Webster
   Impression; stamp; character impressed.
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   All saws of books, all forms, all pressures past.
   Shak.
   
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   (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.
   1913 Webster
   Electro-motive force.
   Webster 1913 Suppl.
   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.
   1913 Webster