PRESSURE

I. noun Etymology: Middle English, from Anglo-French, from Late Latin pressura, from Latin, action of pressing, ~, from pressus, past participle of premere Date: 14th century 1. the burden of physical or mental distress, the constraint of circumstance ; the weight of social or economic imposition, the application of force to something by something else in direct contact with it ; compression , impression , stamp , 4. the action of a force against an opposing force, the force or thrust exerted over a surface divided by its area, electromotive force , the stress or urgency of matters demanding attention ; exigency , the force of selection that results from one or more agents and tends to reduce a population of organisms , atmospheric ~, a sensation aroused by moderate compression of a body part or surface, ~less adjective II. transitive verb (~d; pressuring) Date: 1938 to apply ~ to, pressurize , to cook in a ~ cooker