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."
3.Affliction; distress; grievance. "My people's pressures are grievous." "In the midst of his great troubles and pressures."
4.Urgency; as, the pressure of business.
5.Impression; stamp; character impressed. "All saws of books, all forms, all pressures past."
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.
...
