| 释义 |
▪ I. pressure, n.|ˈprɛʃ(j)ʊə(r), ˈprɛʃə(r)|
[a. obs. F. pressure (12th c. in Godef.), ad. L. pressūra, f. press-, ppl. stem of premĕre to press: see -ure.]
I.
1. The action or fact of pressing; the fact or condition of being pressed (in the various senses of press v.1); the exertion of continuous force upon or against a body by some other body in contact with it (the results being various according to the relative positions of the bodies, and the yielding or non-yielding nature of that which is pressed); compression, squeezing, crushing, etc.
1601? Marston Pasquil & Kath. iii. 98 The pressure of my haires, or the puncture of my heart, stands at the seruice of your sollide perfections. 1602― Ant. & Mel. v. Wks. 1856 I. 66 In the soft pressure of a melting kisse. 1656tr. Hobbes' Elem. Philos. (1839) 333 When two bodies having opposite endeavours, press one another, then the endeavour of either of them is that which we call pressure, and is mutual when their pressures are opposite. 1725N. Robinson Th. Physick 308 Let every thing be remov'd, that may cause the least Pressure upon his Breast. 1744Berkeley Siris §46 The juice of olives or grapes issuing by the lightest pressure is best. 1815Scott Ld. of Isles v. xix, Verdure meet For pressure of the fairies' feet. 1830Kater & Lardner Mech. v. 55 If motion be resisted, the effect is converted into pressure. c1860Faraday Forces Nat. iv. 119 We can obtain heat..by the pressure of air. 1875G. J. Whyte-Melville Riding Recoll. xii. (1879) 216 They [blood-hounds] are sad cowards under pressure from a crowd.
2. a. Physics. The force exerted by one body on another by its weight, or by the continued application of power, viewed as a measurable quantity, the amount being expressed by the weight upon a unit area.
absolute pressure, the total pressure (of steam, etc.), found by adding the amount of the atmospheric pressure to that indicated by the ordinary steam-gauge (which shows the relative pressure, or pressure above that of the atmosphere). pressure of the atmosphere: see atmospheric pressure. centre of pressure: see centre. high pressure, low pressure: see 8.
1660Boyle New Exp. Phys. Mech. xliii. Wks. 1772 I. 115 The conjecture..that perhaps the pressure of the air might have an interest in more phænomena than men have hitherto thought. 1739C. Labelye Short Acc. Piers Westm. Bridge 55 Buildings of very considerable Weight and Pressure are found to stand firm on such Foundations. 1774Goldsm. Nat. Hist. (1776) I. 186 If the vessel filled with water be forty feet high, the bottom of that vessel will sustain such a pressure as would raise the same water forty feet high. 1820Scoresby Acc. Arctic Reg. I. 191 At great depths, the effect of the pressure of the sea is not a little curious. 1827N. Arnott Physics I. 337 In a fluid the pressure is in all directions. 1858Lardner Hand-bk. Nat. Phil., etc. 287 Steam produced under a pressure of 35 atmospheres has the temperature of 419°. 1878Huxley Physiogr. 91 The weight or pressure of the atmosphere is about 15 lbs. in every square inch. 1890Pall Mall G. 18 Sept. 7/2 A final test ascertains what is called the ‘pressure’ of the powder—that is to say, its explosive impact upon the breech.
†b. In the Cartesian theory: = pression 2. Obs.
1710J. Harris Lex. Techn. II, Pressure, by this word some Philosophers, addicted to the Cartesian Hypothesis, mean a kind of Motion which is impressed upon and propagated through a Fluid Medium.
c. In Electricity: see quots. 1907.
1889Nature 24 Oct. 630/2 Currents of high tension are converted into pressures suitable for incandescent lamps by means of transformers. 1907Regulations Use Electrical Energy under Factory and Workshop Act 1901 In these Regulations..Pressure means the difference of electrical potential between any two conductors, or between a conductor and earth, as read by a hot wire or electrostatic volt⁓meter. 1907A. P. Trotter in Let., Electrical pressure is used officially in Acts of Parliament and in Regulations, in preference to electromotive force (which is neither electromotive nor force). But the relation between ‘electrical pressure’ and the ordinary pressure of mechanics or dynamics is nothing more than an analogy; the same may be said of tension which some prefer. Strictly speaking, pressure, tension, and force apply only to matter. In reference to Electricity, all these terms mean ‘That which causes or tends to cause an electric current’.
d. pressure of canvas, sail = press of canvas: see press n.1 10.
1823Scoresby Jrnl. Whale Fish. 3 By carrying a pressure of canvass, we were enabled to weather the Calf of Man.
†3. (?) That which is pressed or prepared by pressing: see quots. Obs.
1486Bk. St. Albans c vij b, Take pressure made of a lombe that was borne in vntyme..and put it in a gut of a coluer and fede her therwith. 1727Bradley Fam. Dict. s.v. Back-worm, Take a Pressure made of a Lamb that was slink'd, and make thereof two or three Pieces, which put into the Gut of a Dove or the like Fowl, and feed your Hawk therewith.
†4. fig. The mark, form, or character impressed; impression, image, stamp. Obs.
1602Shakes. Ham. i. v. 100 Yea, from the Table of my Memory, Ile wipe away..all presures past, That youth and obseruation coppied there. Ibid. iii. ii. 27 To shew Vertue her owne Feature..and the verie Age and Bodie of the Time, his forme and pressure. 1809Malkin Gil Blas v. i. ⁋53 No sooner did I cast my eyes on her face, than I knew..the very form and pressure of Lucinda.
II.
5. The action of pressing painfully upon the sensations or feelings; the condition of being painfully pressed in body or mind; the weight or burden of pain, grief, trouble, poverty, etc.; affliction, oppression.
(The earliest sense in Eng.; also in 12th c. in OF.)
1382Wyclif John xvi. 21 Whanne sche hath borun a sone, now sche thenkith not on the pressure [gloss or charge; Vulg. pressuræ], for ioye, for a man is borun in to the world. 1447O. Bokenham Seyntys (Roxb.) 176 Thorgh thi greth grace and cheryte In alle the pressurs of my chyldyng. 1526Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 57 b, In all perylles, temptacyons, pressures, & necessitees. c1586C'tess Pembroke Ps. cxix. S. ii, In presure and in paine My joyes thy preceptes give. 1662R. Mathew Unl. Alch. p. viii, His Fatherly chastening of pains, sicknesses, and bodily pressures. 1667Decay Chr. Piety viii. ⁋19 Job, whom we find not so often nor so passionately complaining of any of his pressures, as of the unkind censures of his friends. 1794Mrs. Radcliffe Myst. Udolpho viii, Emily struggled against the pressure of grief. 1889Gretton Memory's Harkb. 97 He said..that the mental pressure and excitement was far the worst; it robbed him of his sleep.
†6.
a. The action of political or economic burdens; a heavy charge; the state or condition of being weighed down or oppressed by these. Obs.
1616Bullokar Eng. Expos., Pressure, an oppression. 1628Sir H. Martin in Rushw. Hist. Coll. (1659) I. 581 The pressures and grievances of the people, with the easie remedies. 1642Ibid. iii. (1692) I. 641 Detaining our Arms, destroying our Trade and Markets, with many more Pressures upon us than we are willing to repeat. 1647Clarendon Hist. Reb. i. §8 A proportion (how contemptible soever in respect of the pressures now every day imposed,) never before heard of in Parliament. a1715Burnet Own Time (1823) II. 422 He [Baillie] thought it was lawful for subjects, being under such pressures, to try how they might be relieved from them. 1719W. Wood Surv. Trade 113 That our Goods were first sent into Holland, Flanders, Italy, &c., and afterwards into France, under the pressures of the high duties.
b. A state of trouble or embarrassment; stress, strain; pl. straits, difficulties. In Finance, forces (on a currency) tending towards a change in its value.
1648Gage West. Ind. 68 The Common-wealth hath soon fallen into heavy pressures and troubles. 1727Swift Wonder of Wond. Wks. 1755 II. ii. 53 In all urgent necessities and pressures he applies himself to these deities. 1817Jas. Mill Brit. India III. vi. i. 47 The finances of the Company were in their usual state of extreme pressure and embarrassment. 1868G. Duff Pol. Surv. 202 The summer of 1868 is remembered as a period of financial pressure. 1961N.Y. Times 5 July 31 Throughout ‘The Making of a President’ Mr. White shows wonderfully well how the pressures pile up on candidates. 1964Ann. Reg. 1963 203 Pressure on the peso..became so strong in May that the authorities could no longer resist it. 1976Times 30 Mar. 4/4 Not that they do not want freedom; but it brings pressures and choices with which they find it hard to cope. 1976Howard Jrnl. XV. i. 13 There may also be cases in which a period of detention is necessary as a respite from problems or pressures that will otherwise entrap the offender in greater trouble. 1977A. Ecclestone Staircase for Silence v. 95 As a sensitive man he registered the pressures which were..shaping men to make choices which would carry them to such lengths.
c. Urgency; demand of affairs on one's time or energies.
1812Q. Rev. May 159 At the end of the same session, the third bill, from the pressure of business, was given up without having come to a final hearing. 1845Disraeli Sybil iv. xiii, Another day: I have a great pressure of affairs at present. 1861Dickens Lett. 9 Jan., I write under the pressure of occupation and business. 1885A. Dobson Steele Introd. 46 Writing hastily and under pressure, his language is frequently involved and careless. 1911D. H. Lawrence White Peacock iii. v. 442 In spite of his pressure of business he had become a County Councillor. 1926S. Jameson Three Kingdoms x. 292 She worked on with an aching heart on the evenings when pressure of business kept her in the office until it was too late even to see Sandy before he was in bed and asleep. 1938R. C. Hutchinson Testament i. vi. 60 They were supposed to undergo examination every week, but that, from the pressure on the doctors' time, was often omitted. 1960E. Stopp tr. St. François de Sales's Sel. Lett. 238, I can see that it is hopeless to wait for a better opportunity, since continual pressure of affairs seems to be my fate.
7. a. The action of moral or mental force, or of anything that influences the mind or will; constraining influence.
1625Bacon Ess., Unity in Relig. (Arb.) 433 It was a notable Obseruation of a wise Father..That those, which held and perswaded pressure of Consciences, were commonly interessed therin. 1656Earl of Monmouth tr. Boccalini's Advts. fr. Parnass. ii. ii. (1674) 135 Rebelling against their natural Lords, at the pressure of Forrein Princes. 1791Mrs. Radcliffe Rom. Forest i, His virtue, such as it was, could not stand the pressure of occasion. 1792D. Stewart Philos. Hum. Mind I. iv. viii. 270 In every state of society..the multitude has..acted from the immediate impulse of passion, or from the pressure of their wants and necessities. 1860J. W. Warter Sea-board II. 8 The pressure from without will be a benefit to outlying clergy. 1949Sun (Baltimore) 7 Feb. 8/2 There is no doubting the fortitude the Norwegians show thus far against Russian pressure. 1964Gould & Kolb Dict. Social Sci. 530/2 [S. E. Finer] reserves the term pressure for those activities..which amount to the ‘application or threatened application of a sanction should a demand be refused’. 1966Listener 19 May 713/1 The effects of the sort of social pressures described by Professor Sprott depend largely on the age of the person, the length of time they last, and their intensity. 1976Times 30 Mar. 4/2 The Conservative Party should resist well intentioned pressures to spell out in detail what it would do when it won a general election.
b. to bring pressure (to bear): to exert influence to a specific end; to bring (or put) pressure on (someone): to urge or press (someone) strongly in order to persuade.
1864W. Hardman Let. 21 Apr. in S. M. Ellis Lett. & Mem. Sir W. Hardman (1925) 172 Some pressure had evidently been brought to bear. 1897R. Broughton Dear Faustina xv, I really have some influence with her..if I put pressure on, I really have a good deal. 1908A. F. Bentley Process of Govt. x. 208 We frequently talk of ‘bringing pressure to bear’ upon someone, and we can use the word here with but slight extension beyond this common meaning. Pressure, as we shall use it, is always a group phenomenon. 1912T. Dreiser Financier xlv. 489 He thought once of going to Mrs. Cowperwood and having her bring pressure to bear on her husband. 1934Amer. Speech IX. 11/2 To put on the pressure is to run the cards of a long suit in an effort to force the discard of cards which might otherwise win tricks. 1937Sun (Baltimore) 22 July 1/5 Republic Steel Corporation officials and leaders of a local back-to-work movement and of a law and order league brought sustained ‘pressure’ on city officials of an Ohio town, seeking the use of force in reopening strike-bound mills. 1960L. P. Hartley Facial Justice iii. 25 These dissidents brought pressure to bear on their Governments to leave the upper air alone. 1961Times-Picayune (New Orleans) 1 Jan ii. 3 This might be done to arouse those who have been squeezed out by the trims to exert pressure on the Legislature, so it would be more receptive to a tax proposal later in the year.
III. 8. a. high pressure. orig. A pressure higher than that of the atmosphere, said in reference to steam-engines, but now only a relative term without any absolute limits: esp. in reference to compound engines in which the steam is used at different pressures in the different cylinders; mostly attrib., as in high-pressure cylinder, high pressure engine, high pressure steam, etc. b. transf. of speed, work, business, conditions of life, etc., and in Pathol., as a high-pressure pulse. c. In Meteorol. said of a dense condition of the atmosphere over a certain region, indicated by a high barometer, as in high-pressure area, high-p. system (of winds). So low pressure, of the steam-engine, and in Pathol. and Meteorol.
1824R. Stuart Hist. Steam Engine 67 To supersede the high-pressure engines. 1833N. Arnott Physics (ed. 5) II. i. 97 In proportion as the fluid is more condensed—high-pressure steam is merely condensed steam, just as high-pressure air is condensed air; and to obtain a double or triple pressure, we must have twice or thrice the quantity of steam under the same volume. 1833[see low a. 20]. 1851Illustr. Catal. Gt. Exhib. 212 High-pressure oscillating steam-engine. Ibid. 213 Self-acting..damper, for high and low pressure steam. 1890Webster s.v. Compound, The steam that has been used in a high-pressure cylinder is made to do further service in a larger low-pressure cylinder.
b.1838New Monthly Mag. LII. 448 The importation of the battu,..by which the slaughter of game is achieved with a high-pressure velocity, is another illustration of the same truth. 1839Stonehouse Axholme p. xi, A small freeholder, who was working under the high pressure of a stiff mortgage. 1862T. C. Grattan Beaten Paths II. 3 The high-pressure engine of refinement is always furnished with a safety-valve against the danger of explosion. 1888Mrs. H. Ward R. Elsmere xx, As for Robert, he, of course, was living at high pressure all round. 1895Daily News 31 Oct. 6/6 There was no high pressure work going on, and no high pressure oratory. 1897Low-pressure pulse [see low a. 20]. 1901Daily Chron. 25 Dec. 5/1 The strain of another high-pressure Session like that of last year.
c.1891Daily News 9 Feb. 2/7 About the middle of last week a large high-pressure system spread over the United Kingdom from the southward. 1900Westm. Gaz. 27 Aug. 4/2 A high-pressure area lies over our northern regions, but a depression exists over the west of France.
IV.
9. attrib. and Comb. a. of pressure, as pressure drop, pressure gradient, pressure height, pressure stage; b. used to indicate or ascertain the amount of pressure exerted, as pressure-anemometer, pressure transducer. c. worked by means of pressure, as pressure fan, pressure pump, pressure valve; d. caused by pressure, as pressure-displacement, pressure-figure, pressure-forging, pressure sensation, pressure-sign, pressure-symptom; e. for pressing, or causing pressure, as pressure-ball, pressure-bandage, pressure-bottle, pressure-box, pressure-forceps, pressure-frame, pressure-screw; f. objective and obj. gen., as pressure-fixing, pressure-reciprocating, pressure-relieving, pressure-reducing, pressure-retaining adjs.; pressure-reducer. g. other Combs.: pressure-sensitive adj.
1898Westm. Gaz. 24 Jan. 7/2 Passing a current of air by means of indiarubber *pressure-balls through a glass bottle full of glass shavings steeped in sulphuric acid.
1897Allbutt's Syst. Med. II. 232 The application of *pressure bandages is very useful.
1899Ibid. VII. 239 In its turn it is attached by a T-tube, to a *pressure bottle.
1882Rep. to Ho. Repr. Prec. Met. U.S. 626 In order to utilize the pressure due to the elevated position..the water is conducted from the ditches into a tank called the ‘*pressure box’.
1903A. M. Clerke Astrophysics 38 *Pressure-displacements and motion-displacements are, in fact, respectively concerned.
1949O. G. Sutton Sci. of Flight i. 14 The solution of practical problems, such as the determination of the *pressure-drop in pipes. 1964J. C. Catford in D. Abercrombie et al. Daniel Jones 31 For normal voice the liminal pressure-drop across the glottis is of the order of 3 cm of water.
c1890W. H. Casmey Ventilation 7 The *pressure fan..used where a small volume of air at a high velocity of pressure is required.
1899Allbutt's Syst. Med. VIII. 821 Excision associated with the rapid application of the *pressure forceps.
1875Knight Dict. Mech., Printing-frame (Photography), also known as a *pressure-frame.
1918Meteorol. Gloss. (Met. Office), Gradient wind, the flow of air which is necessary to balance the *pressure-gradient. 1968R. A. Lyttleton Mysteries Solar Syst. i. 27 For a heated gas-cloud rotating round the sun, there can be a pressure-gradient perpendicularly away from the general equatorial plane of the distribution.
1899Allbutt's Syst. Med. VII. 253 At a certain *pressure-height the fluid meniscus exhibits maximal pulsations.
1881Nature 15 Dec. 167 The total work done by a fluid *pressure-reciprocating engine.
1889Electrical Rev. XXV. 583 An accumulator is..merely a chemical converter which is unequalled as a *pressure-reducer.
1934Webster, *Pressure-reducing, adj. 1950Sci. News Let. XV. 79 The liquids are displaced from the tanks by an inert gas. Nitrogen, stored under a high pressure and fed to the tanks through pressure-reducing valves, is commonly used for this purpose.
1971B. Scharf Engin. & its Lang. xii. 177 Pressure control valves may be pressure-reducing valves which maintain reduced pressure on the downstream side (i.e. after the valve), *pressure-retaining valves which maintain the pressure on the upstream side, and indirect pressure control valves to maintain the pressure at a point other than in the line in which the valve is located.
1895Amer. Jrnl. Psychol. VII. 81 Druckempfindung, *pressure sensation. 1901[see contact n. 1 d]. 1932Mind XLI. 363 Whenever I touch anything I have pressure-sensations with a characteristic local sign.
1937Jrnl. Exper. Psychol. XX. 458 There were relatively more *pressure sensitive spots on the dorsal side of the arm than on the ventral side. 1970New Yorker 3 Oct. 108/3 Repair the damage with pressure-sensitive tape.
1880Barwell Aneurism 41 The *pressure symptoms of innominate aneurisms are very variable.
1949Jrnl. Sci. Instruments XXVI. 327/2 (caption) Final form of electronic *pressure transducer. 1956Nature 25 Feb. 380/1 The time it takes for the wave to cover a known distance was measured by means of two barium titanate crystal pressure-transducers. 1963H. K. P. Neubert Instrument Transducers iv. 348 Through the year the main application of piezoelectric pressure transducers has been the ‘engine indicator’ for use with internal-combustion engines, which employs quartz disks or piles of disks.
1897Weekly Sun 19 Sept. 15/2 It is forced down by the tremendous *pressure-valves into a small chamber within the tank.
10. Special Combs.: pressure arch Mining, a distribution of pressure over an excavation resembling that in a structural arch, caused by increased pressure on the side walls of the excavation, which act as abutments supporting the strata forming the roof; pressure-bar, a device in a planing-machine for holding down the material to be planed; pressure-blower, a blower for producing a blast in which the air is driven by the pressure of pistons; pressure-boiler, a boiler designed to withstand great pressure, for heating liquids above the normal boiling point; pressure breathing (see quot. 1965); pressure broadening Physics, pressure-dependent broadening of spectral lines caused by collisions of emitting molecules with their neighbours in a fluid; so pressure-broadened a.; pressure-button, a ‘button’ or stud, by pressing which a spring is liberated or an electric bell rung; pressure cabin, in an aircraft, an airtight cabin in which the air is maintained at a pressure safe and comfortable for the occupants; pressure cable Electr. Engin., a paper-insulated cable that contains gas or oil under pressure within the outer sheath or pipe, in order to counteract the tendency of the oil to move away from the conductors in operating conditions and enable higher voltages to be used; pressure chamber, a chamber designed to hold material under pressure, or in which pressure can be applied; pressure-cylinder, the cylinder of the pressure-gauge of an engine; pressure (die-)casting, die-casting in which the metal is forced into the mould under pressure; a casting so made; so pressure-cast a.; pressure drag Aeronaut., the drag on a moving body which results from the aerodynamic pressure distribution over its surface; form drag; pressure-engine, a machine driven by the pressure of a column of water, esp. one in which the piston of a cylinder is driven by water-power; a hydraulic engine; pressure-filter, a filter in which the liquid is forced through filtering material by pressure greater than that of its own weight; pressure-flaker, a pointed bone tool used for pressure-flaking; pressure flaking Archæol., the flaking of flint tools by applying pressure with a hard point; hence pressure-flaked a., shaped in this way; pressure flask, a flask designed to withstand pressure greater than that of the atmosphere; pressure-gauge, -gage, an instrument for showing the pressure of an elastic agent, as steam or gas; also, one for showing the pressure in a cannon or fire-arm at the instant of explosion of the charge; pressure heater, an apparatus for heating water, etc., by steam under pressure; pressure hold Mountaineering, a hold maintained by the exertion of sideways or downward pressure; pressure hull, the hull (or part of the hull) of a submarine which is designed to withstand the pressure of the sea when the vessel is submerged; pressure jump Meteorol., a mobile zone of atmospheric disturbance, characterized by a steep pressure gradient and usu. marking a discontinuity in the height of an inversion layer; so pressure-jump line; pressure lamp, a portable oil or paraffin lamp in which the fuel is forced up into the mantle or burner by the air pressure in an enclosed reservoir, which is increased by pumping with a built-in plunger; pressure line = pressure ridge; pressure microphone, a microphone which responds to the instantaneous pressure of sound waves; pressure mine, a mine designed to be activated by the temporary reduction in hydrostatic pressure caused by a passing ship; pressure-note, Mus. a note marked with a crescendo; pressure pack, package, a dispenser containing a substance, freq. an aerosol, under pressure; so pressure-packaged ppl. a.; pressure-packaging vbl. n.; pressure pad, a pad designed to transmit or absorb pressure; pressure paralysis, paralysis caused by pressure on part of the brain; pressure pattern, a pattern of prevailing atmospheric pressures; usu. attrib., as pressure-pattern flying, denoting the use of air routes which enable aircraft to take advantage of the air currents associated with such patterns to economize on fuel or time; pressure-pipe, the pipe of the pressure-gauge of a steam-engine; pressure pouch = pharyngocele; pressure-register, a recording pressure-gauge, particularly one that records the fluctuations of pressure of air, steam, or gas; pressure ridge, a ridge caused by pressure; esp. a ridge of ice in the polar seas caused by lateral pressure; pressure saucepan = pressure cooker a; pressure sore Med., a sore produced by continued pressure on a part of the body; pressure-spot = pressure point 1; pressure stove, a portable stove supplied with oil or paraffin under pressure; pressure suit, a garment that can be made airtight and inflated to protect the wearer against low ambient pressure (as in high-altitude flight); pressure tank, a tank in which a fluid, esp. fuel, is held under pressure; pressure tendency Meteorol. = barometric tendency; pressure-tight a., (of a joint, container, or the like), tightly enough constructed to prevent the passage of a fluid under pressure; hence pressure-tightness; pressure vessel, a vessel designed to contain material at high pressures; esp. in a nuclear reactor, a vessel containing the reactor core immersed in the pressurized coolant; pressure wave, a wave consisting of a sudden change in pressure propagated through a medium; pressure welding, welding in which pressure is applied to the parts to be joined; welding brought about by pressure. Also pressure cooker, pressure-feed v. and n., etc.
1950Ferrari & Wardell in E. Mason Pract. Coal Mining I. ix. 145/2 Props and bars, chocks and cutter nogs, all of which can be withdrawn and reset, are used for carrying the weight of stone inside the *pressure arch. 1958A. Nelson Methods of Working iv. 32 A true pressure arch can only exist underground where two side abutments exist, each being strong enough to support its share of the load on the arch and also to provide the lateral thrust necessary for its stability. 1973L. J. Thomas Introd. Mining viii. 340 The recommendation of the committee was that stalls should be limited to three-quarters of the width of the pressure arch for stability, and that pillar width should be equal to stall width.
1884Knight Dict. Mech. Suppl. s.v., The long suits of the Woodworth and the Woodbury Patents were upon *pressure bars and pressure rollers.
1891S. P. Sadtler Hand-bk. Industr. Org. Chem. v. 179 Three grammes of substance are placed in a small beaker (preferably of metal), which is placed as one of several in a Soxhlet *pressure-boiler, or the test is carried out in the Lintner pressure-flask,—and heated to the temperature of boiling water.
1952A. Huxley Let. 20 May (1969) 644, I have had no return of my iritis and, thanks to the newly invented *pressure-breathing treatment,..have practically eliminated the slight chronic bronchitis. 1965Gloss. Aeronaut. Terms (B.S.I.) xvii. 3 Pressure breathing, a technique in which oxygen is supplied to the lungs at a pressure higher than the ambient barometric pressure.
1936Rev. Mod. Physics VIII. 48/2 These *pressure-broadened lines show the expected larger shifts and half-widths. 1970A. F. Harvey Coherent Light xxv. 1095 For most atmospheric phenomena the pressure-broadened line is appropriate.
1932Physical Rev. XXXIX. 860 The pressure shift of spectral lines, unexplained by the usual theories of *pressure broadening. 1967W. R. Hindmarsh Atomic Spectra viii. 86 The three main causes of line-broadening are: the natural width of atomic energy levels..; Doppler width..; and collision, or pressure broadening.
1893Star 19 May 1/8 The new electric bells..the substitution of *pressure buttons for the existing lever pulls.
1935Jrnl. R. Aeronaut. Soc. XXXIX. 1045 *Pressure cabins and/or free oxygen in the cabins are both being experimented with today. 1948‘N. Shute’ No Highway iv. 109 They..went into the rear fuselage, behind the pressure cabin. 1965J. D. Storer Behind Scenes in Aircraft Factory iii. 33 A door in a normal pressure cabin would have to withstand an outward load of some seven tons.
1931M. Hochstadter et al. in Jrnl. R. Soc. Arts LXXX. 95 The utilisation of an impregnated paper cable..could be greatly increased if it were possible to get rid of the heterogeneity in the dielectric, or to render it harmless so far as the time-voltage curve and stability are concerned... It is possible to do this (a) By the use of a very thin impregnating oil and the provision of channels along the cable... (b) By radial compression of the cable in such a way that the radial ‘breathing’ is reversible at all temperatures, such vacuous spaces as tend to form being closed by the compression or the pressure in them raised to such an extent that no ionisation takes place. The latter alternative leads to the ‘*Pressure Cable’. 1966IEEE Trans. Power Apparatus & Syst. LXXXV. 375 (heading) A few aspects of the general problem concerning tightness of connections formed by pressure cables.
1973J. G. Tweeddale Materials Technol. II. ii. 41 A *pressure-cast material is likely to be..more uniformly consistent in structure than other cast materials. 1979Mills & Mansfield Genuine Article iv. 71 ‘Beirut Sovereigns.’ Untold numbers of these superb pressure cast forgeries now adulterate the market.
1922Proc. Inst. Mech. Engin. I. 27 *Pressure castings in iron though not yet out of the experimental stage, would..tend to eliminate holes due to occluded air or shrinkage. 1933Iron Age 30 Nov. 18/1 Brass pressure castings are subject to porosity in the same manner that zinc and aluminum die castings are subject to porosity. 1973J. G. Tweeddale Materials Technol. II. ii. 42 (caption) Systems for pressure casting. (a) Gravity pressure. (b) Gas pressure. (c) Mechanical pressure. (d) Centrifugal pressure. (e) Another system for using centrifugal pressure.
1915Jrnl. Chem. Soc. CVIII. ii. 820 A press is described..which by means of a lower cylinder with narrow holes bored vertically in it forces a molten solid out of the *pressure chamber and so causes a sudden drop in pressure. 1934Jrnl. Cellular & Compar. Physiol. V. 335 A pressure chamber was constructed which permits of viscosity measurements by the ‘centrifuge method’ at high hydrostatic pressures. 1966Lancet 24 Dec. 1406/1 A small brass pressure chamber was constructed of about 20 ml. capacity.
1898Westm. Gaz. 19 Nov. 2/3 Whilst carrying out a speed trial..the *pressure cylinder burst, and the engineer..got badly scalded.
1919Bull. Amer. Inst. Mining Engin. Feb. 240 On fracture, the *pressure die casting will be found to consist of a dense closely grained outer stratum and a porous inner stratum. 1933Machinery XXXIX. 781/1 Pressure die-castings do not have a homogeneous structure, but, upon fracture, exhibit a dense fine-grained exterior and a coarser grained interior. 1973J. G. Tweeddale Materials Technol. II. ii. 8 We have..injection moulding technologists concerned only with pressure-die-casting of thermo-plastic polymers.
1950Kuethe & Schetzer Found. Aerodynamics xii. 212 Two types of drag, form or *pressure drag and skin friction, are evident in the flow of a viscous incompressible fluid past a body. 1959F. D. Adams Aeronaut. Dict. 79/1 Inasmuch as pressure drag is a function of form, form drag and pressure drag are sometimes considered synonymous. 1961H. H. Koelle Handbk. Astronaut. Engin. v. 23 In ideal, inviscid, and incompressible two-dimensional flow there is no pressure drag. The sum of the pressure-force components in the free-stream direction is zero.
1815Chron. in Ann. Reg. 91/1 A new steam boiler, worked by what is called a *pressure engine of about six horse power. 1853Glynn Power Water 96 By the pressure-engine and the turbine, the power of waterfalls of any height..may at once be made available.
1874Knight Dict. Mech., Filtering-press, a *pressure-filter.
1934Geogr. Jnrl. LXXXIII. 302 A knife of neolithic age, *pressure-flaked from tabular chert. 1959J. D. Clark Prehist. S. Afr. vi. 161 Small pressure-flaked points shaped like equilateral triangles.
1954S. Piggott Neolithic Cultures Brit. Isles ii. 43 The same floor produced three antler tines, and Floor 58..another, associated with a heap of minute flakes, indicating their use as *pressure-flakers.
1927Peake & Fleure Hunters & Artists 49 The new technique..includes a high finish by the process of *pressure-flaking, that is to say the removal of small thin flakes by pressing near the edge with a bone tool rather than by striking with another stone. 1949K. P. Oakley Man the Tool-Maker v. 29 Some of the tribes..dress spearheads by pressure-flaking. 1959J. D. Clark Prehist. S. Afr. vi. 157 The finish is much finer and pressure flaking is frequently used.
1891*Pressure flask [see pressure boiler above]. 1967Oceanogr. & Marine Biol. V. 188 Pressure flask for studying plants under a few atm.
1862Catal. Internat. Exhib. II. xiii. 17 The Deep-Sea *Pressure-Gauge. 1879Cassell's Techn. Educ. iv. 211 Some mode of indicating at any moment the exact pressure which the steam exerts, and this we learn by means of the ‘pressure-gauge’.
1896Rep. Aerated Bread Co. 11 The little boiler which is generally termed the *pressure heater.
1941T. A. H. Peacocke Mountaineering iv. 46 Sideways *pressureholds, with the palms of the hands pointing down, should be used as much as possible. 1955J. E. B. Wright Technique of Mountaineering Pl. 10 (caption) Last man on Kern Knotts Crack using plimsolls for pressure holds for feet. 1975W. Unsworth Encycl. Mountaineering 120/1 Pressure holds are holds where there in no grip as such and one relies on the friction of the rock.
1923Man. Seamanship (Admiralty) II. 171 Situated on the *pressure hull..is what is known as the ‘diver's connection’. 1966McGraw-Hill Encycl. Sci. & Technol. XIII. 211/2 The pressure hull, comprising all of the inner and part of the outer hull, is the strong hull that resists external sea pressure. 1974L. Deighton Spy Story xx. 210 The crash came like a sledgehammer pounded against the hollow steel of the pressure hull... Obviously some dire damage had been done to the submarine.
1950M. Tepper in Jrnl. Meteorol. VII. 21 It is proposed that a squall line might be considered as a disturbance generated by accelerations along the cold front and which travels along the warm sector inversion as a gravitational wave. It is recommended that any series of meteorological events similar to this mechanism be called a *Pressure Jump Line. Ibid. 23/1 The leading edge of this pressure gradient, which shall be referred to as the pressure jump, is clearly defined on the maps, seems to undulate rather violently, and moves in a non-uniform manner. 1955Sci. News Let. 12 Mar. 170/2 This squall line is also known as a pressure jump line, since a sudden rise in barometric pressure always accompanies it. 1963E. R. Reiter Jet-Stream Meteorol. iv. 271 We may..point out some..research work..which makes a pressure jump that travels as a gravity wave along the inversion between moist and dry air responsible for the formation of squall lines and tornadoes. 1967Oceanogr. & Marine Biol. V. 42 Sudden rises in sea level..have been experienced occasionally at coastal locations with the passage over the sea of a moving squall line or pressure jump.
1939–40Army & Navy Stores Catal. 279 ‘Tilley’ lamps... A ‘*pressure’ lamp. 1958L. Durrell Balthazar vii. 154 A whole encampment..had sprung up in the darkness, fitfully lit by oil and paraffin stoves, by pressure lamps and braziers. 1974J. Wainwright Hard Hit 150 The white-hot mantle of the pressure-lamp.
1909Daily Chron. 3 Sept. 1/2 Much of our hard work was lost in circuitous twists around troublesome *pressure lines and high, irregular fields of very old ice.
1934Olson & Massa Appl. Acoustics v. 93 If the response corresponds to the variations in pressure of the medium, it is termed a *pressure microphone. 1966McGraw-Hill Encycl. Sci. & Technol. VIII. 360/1 Pressure microphones are inherently nondirectional (omnidirectional), because pressure is a scalar and not a vector quantity.
1949J. S. Cowie Mines, Minelayers & Minelaying viii. 162 The Germans, meanwhile, had played their last card, the ‘Oyster’ or *pressure mine. 1957Encycl. Brit. XV. 535/1 Since pressure mines are fired by the reduced water pressure produced by a ship passing over them, the best method of sweeping them is to simulate the passage of a ship by towing a large, expendable target over them. 1969New Scientist 28 Aug. 421/2 In fairways that are not more than 100 or 200 feet deep, the pressure mines are a special hazard.
1958Herzka & Pickthall Pressurized Packaging (Aerosols) iv. 78 The first *pressure packs marketed in Great Britain were packed in aluminium dispensers which monopolized the British market until the advent of the all-tinplate dispenser in 1955. 1959News Chron. 30 June 6/5 The pressure-pack has no screw-cap and the dispensing valve automatically seals itself after use. 1966Harris & Platt in A. Herzka Internat. Encycl. Pressurized Packaging vi. 81 In the case of the pressure pack..the basic source of energy is provided by the propellant, which may be either compressed or liquefied gas.
1958Food Technol. XII. 331/1 Results of one or both of the above mentioned methods will indicate whether the existing product is applicable to the *pressure package.
1957Mod. Packaging Dec. 156/2 Many foods that are *pressure packaged cannot be subjected to heat without quality loss and thus must be refrigerated. 1959News Chron. 30 June 6/3 A familiar product..is the pressure-packaged insecticide.
1957Mod. Packaging Dec. 156/2 Most foods that have application to *pressure packaging will require some sort of preservation treatment.
1912Machinery 31 Oct. 148/2 The shell stripper..also acts as the spring *pressure pad during the drawing operation. 1941C. W. Hinman Pressworking Metals vi. 75 The power of compression is adjusted by nuts beneath a pressure pad at the lower end of the casing. 1969Times 7 Mar. 15/1 A group of research workers in California claims to have discovered a way of presenting visual information to blind people through an array of pressure pads which vibrate against the skin of their backs. 1979B. Freemantle Charlie Muffin's Uncle Sam xvi. 146 Battery-operated bells..rang if..anyone..stepped on one of the pressure pads..around the display cases.
1899Allbutt's Syst. Med. VI. 658 *Pressure paralysis for the most part is rapidly recovered from.
1946Sci. News Let. 2 Nov. 278/2 A new technique, ‘*pressure pattern flying’, is now available to air pilots on the Atlantic route from Europe... This new technique consists in determining the shortest flight-time path to the destination by a series of late accurate reports..which locates pressure areas and enables a pilot to take advantage of the airflow circulating around them. 1954N.Y. Times 6 June ii. 31/2 During the past eight years Trans World Airlines pilots flying over the Atlantic..have mastered the techniques of getting maximum range from their planes by flying ‘pressure patterns’. 1962G. D. P. Worthington Flight Planning iv. 53 The study of pressure pattern flying and the increasing knowledge being obtained of jet streams has made it apparent that the shortest route is not always the quickest or most economical.
1889Pall Mall G. 27 Nov. 4/3 During her gun trials the *pressure pipe, which was 8 feet long, burst. No one was hurt.
1897Allbutt's Syst. Med. III. 363 *Pressure pouches, though often called œsophageal, in reality arise from the lower part of the pharynx.
1897Nansen's Farthest North I. vi. 241 The *pressure-ridges..are apt to run at right angles to the course of the pressure which produced them. 1913I. Cowie Company of Adventurers xv. 264, I.. was aroused every now and again by the cracking, rumbling and thunderous resounding of the ice as the cold took a firmer grip on it and upheaved it into pressure ridges. 1951Beaver June 13 The entire ice-cover is criss-crossed by a network of pressure ridges. 1975E. Iglauer Denison's Ice Road ix. 230 Denison pointed to a *pressure ridge, a wide band of broken ice, several feet high.
1951Good Housek. Home Encycl. 229/1 For cooking a single dish for four or five persons, or a complete meal for one or two, a *pressure saucepan will serve.
1889Buck's Handbk. Med. Sci. VIII. 748/3 (Index), *Pressure-sores. 1905R. Howard Surg. Nursing ii. 23 In applying back splints to the leg and foot..the heel itself only rests lightly on the splint, otherwise a pressure-sore may occur. 1977Lancet 10 Sept. 548/1 Chairfast patients consistently had a higher pressure-sore frequency than bedfast patients of a similar degree of helplessness.
1887G. T. Ladd Physiol. Psychol. 410 The finest point, when it touches a ‘*pressure-spot’, produces a sensation of pressure, and not one of being pricked.
1914Handbk. Amat. Camping Club 51 The increasing popularity of the paraffin *pressure stove, the best-known form of which is perhaps the ‘Primus’, is an indication that this form of kitchen range probably best fits the camper's bill. 1956C. Evans On Climbing viii. 129 For high altitudes, and extreme cold, it is possible to have a pressure-stove made with an extra large cup to hold more priming fuel. 1966B. Kimenye Kalasanda Revisited 31 The self-pitying thought, ‘I might as well be dead’, kept recurring in his mind as he pumped his pressure stove to boil a kettle of tea.
1936Flight 1 Oct. 340/2 To enable the pilot to stand the extremely low pressure encountered at about 50,000ft..a special ‘*pressure-suit’ has been produced. 1949Startling Stories Sept. 125/2 The multiple layers of my pressure suit had made movement very difficult. 1962J. Glenn et al. Into Orbit 244 G-suits are not to be confused with pressure suits (or, now, spacesuits) which the Astronaut wears during space flight to maintain atmospheric pressure at high altitudes. 1977P. Way Super-Celeste 58 The sudden expansion of his pressure suit turned his body into a heavy, rigid block... He was catapulted..into..the sky.
1862Electrician 10 Jan. 115/2 (heading) Mr. Reid's *pressure tank, used in testing cables during manufacture. 1917‘Contact’ Airman's Outings viii. 225 A small gravity tank for his machine, to be used when the pressure tank is ventilated by a bullet. 1929F. P. Gibbons Red Napoleon xii. 403 ‘Pressure tank hit,’ Binney shouted. ‘I'm dumping her.’ 1962Sci. Survey III. 85 Modern machines [sc. electrostatic generators] of this type, enclosed in steel pressure-tanks, have produced about 10 MeV.
1939R. C. Sutcliffe Meteorol. for Aviators xvii. 218 The closest attention should always be given to the *pressure tendencies. 1946W. L. Donn Meteorol. vii. 118 The pressure tendency is the net change in pressure for the preceding 3 hours. 1970F. W. Cole Introd. Meteorol. xiv. 323 While pressure, as such, is not a useful weather parameter, the change in pressure and the pressure tendency are both helpful in developing a forecast.
1946Nature 21 Dec. 897/2 Pressurization of cabins for high-altitude flying now appears to be essential... This creates a fresh outlook on the body structure, which now has to be a *pressure-tight shell. 1963R. Hammond Automatic Welding ii. 85 Eight spot welds fix the spider to the rim, eliminating rivet holes and ensuring a pressure-tight joint.
1951H. H. Doehler Die Casting xi. 458 (heading) Inspecting for *pressure tightness. 1970tr. Zoebl's Fund. Hydraulic Circuitry viii. 156 This type of plant is used for checking the pressure tightness of welded pipes.
1915Haven & Swett (title) The design of steam boilers and *pressure vessels. 1960Practical Wireless XXXVI. 298/1 X-ray photographs of the welds in the pressure vessel of a nuclear power station. 1962Newnes Conc. Encycl. Nucl. Energy 707/2 For safety reasons the reactor is located inside a steel pressure vessel about 70 ft in diameter and 70 ft high. 1975Bram & Downs Manuf. Technol. ii. 60 If the product is a pressure vessel, very high-integrity welds are essential.
1949O. G. Sutton Sci. of Flight vi. 140 (heading) *Pressure waves caused by moving bodies. 1956A. H. Compton Atomic Quest iii. 212 The pressure waves in a metal strained far beyond the elastic limit. 1962A. Nisbett Technique Sound Studio xi. 191 The water-tank artificial reverberation machine.., in which the sound is modulated on to a 80-kc/s carrier and fed via a piezo-electric element to produce pressure waves in the water-tank. 1975T. Allbeury Special Collection iv. 18 He could feel the vibration in his ears, the pressure waves of the guns and bombs.
1926Stoughton & Butts Engin. Metall. vii. 137 (heading) Electric heating for *pressure welding. 1954H. Udin et al. Welding for Engineers iii. 34 Oxyacetylene pressure welding is accomplished by butting together under pressure the two pieces of metal to be joined and heating the junction by oxyacetylene torches. 1967A. H. Cottrell Introd. Metall. xxii. 435 In extrusion, the great pressure developed between the metal and the die can lead to sticking, due to pressure welding.
▪ II. ˈpressure, v. orig. U.S.
[f. the n.]
1. a. trans. To exert pressure on. Chiefly fig., to urge or impel (someone to do, something or into a situation or course of action); to drive or force (someone out of something). Also absol. (const. for), to exert pressure, to press. Hence ˈpressured ppl. a., of work, affairs, etc.: urgent, pressing; of people: under pressure.
1939R. Chandler in Dime Detective Mag. Jan. 103/2 I'm not trying to pressure you. 1944Sun (Baltimore) 6 Oct. 7/3 You can't pressure the War Labor Board into action through strikes. 1951L. Z. Hobson Celebrity (1953) x. 140 It's too bad Gregory Johns is so set against public appearances, but even the studio isn't trying to pressure him. 1957J. F. Horner Summary of Scientology i. 10 Finally he was pressured into writing a popular treatise on Scientology. 1960Daily Mail 12 May 10/6 Baldies can be ‘pressured’ into paying more than {pstlg}200 for a course of treatment. 1961S. Raven Eng. Gentleman iii. iv. 170 Was Rufus trying to pressure him? asked Henry. Certainly not. Just trying to make him see things in a sensible way. 1963Economist 12 Jan. 111/2 Preachers..‘were pressured out of the pulpits they held’. 1968P. Oliver Screening Blues vi. 248 The imputation that the singers were pressured by the record companies which is frequently made, though probably having some measure of truth, is probably much overstated. 1971H. Cheetham Portrait of Oxford xiii. 202 The trouble about an Oxford education..is that no-one..pressures you into working. 1971C. Bonington Annapurna South Face iii. 32, I..was near to exhaustion from weeks of pressured work and worry. 1973J. Goodfield Courier to Peking i. iii. 45 You personally have never pressured for unlimited resources. 1976Times 8 July 2/5 He said the personalities of Joseph Markham and later Clive Mildoon began as fantasies, providing relief for the pressured and overburdened public figure of Mr John Stonehouse.
b. trans. To gain by bringing pressure to bear. U.S.
1944Sun (Baltimore) 7 May 8/3 He intervened himself and pressured a better settlement for the unions. 1952Ibid. 22 Mar. 6/4 Other strong unions will now immediately pressure comparable or greater gains for their own people.
2. trans. = pressurize v. 1.
1961in Webster. 1979Daily Tel. 8 June 2/1 The engine on the right would have continued to pressure the No. 3 [hydraulic] system under normal circumstances. |