<B>pressing, </B>adjective, noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>adj. </I> requiring immediate action or attention; urgent. <BR> <I>Ex. A man with a broken leg is in pressing need of a doctor's help. He left town quickly on some pressing business. The danger now became too pressing to admit of longer delay (James Fenimore Cooper).</I> <DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>a phonograph record. <BR> <I>Ex. The stereo pressings have the prefix SXL (London Times).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>all the phonograph records pressed at one time. <BR> <I>Ex. ... RCA Victor recording of the Tchaikovsky concerts (first pressing: 150,000 copies) (Time).</I> adv. <B>pressingly.</B> noun <B>pressingness.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="presslord">
<B>press lord,</B> =press baron.</DL>
<A NAME="pressman">
<B>pressman, </B>noun, pl. <B>-men.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a man who operates or has charge of a printing press. <DD><B> 2. </B>a reporter; newspaperman. <BR> <I>Ex. I at once revoked the order and told the pressmen to write as they pleased (Dwight D. Eisenhower).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="pressmark">
<B>pressmark, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a mark put on a book or other volume to indicate its location in a library. </DL>
<A NAME="pressmoney">
<B>press money,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> money paid to a soldier or sailor on enlistment. </DL>
<A NAME="pressofsail">
<B>press of sail</B> or <B>canvas,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> all the sail the wind allows. <BR> <I>Ex. The British fleet was just out of sight with the exception of one or two stragglers, under a press of canvas (Joseph Conrad).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="pressopportunity">
<B>press opportunity,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (U.S.) a brief news conference. <BR> <I>Ex. A "press opportunity" is on the schedule when the plane sets down in Omaha (whose media reach into Iowa) (New Yorker).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="pressor">
<B>pressor, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> (Physiology.) increasing blood pressure; stimulating. A pressor nerve is one whose stimulation causes an increase of blood pressure. </DL>
<A NAME="pressrelease">
<B>press release,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a news story, item, or piece of publicity issued by or on behalf of the individual or group involved to a newspaper or newspapers for publication. </DL>
<A NAME="pressroom">
<B>pressroom, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a room containing printing presses. </DL>
<A NAME="pressrun">
<B>pressrun, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>the run of a printing press for a specific number of copies. <DD><B> 2. </B>the number of copies run off. <BR> <I>Ex. El Diario ... doubled its regular 75,000 copy pressrun (Newsweek).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="presssecretary">
<B>press secretary,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a secretary who handles the public relations and arranges press conferences of a politician, organization, or institution. <BR> <I>Ex. At 47, he is the most influential Presidential press secretary in U.S. history (Newsweek).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="pressshow">
<B>press-show, </B>transitive verb, <B>-showed,</B> <B>-shown</B> or <B>-showed,</B> <B>-showing.</B><DL COMPACT><DD> to show to the press before public presentation; preview. </DL>
<A NAME="pressstud">
<B>press-stud, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (British.) a snap fastener. </DL>
<B>pressural, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> of the nature of mechanical pressure. </DL>
<A NAME="pressure">
<B>pressure, </B>noun, verb, <B>-sured,</B> <B>-suring.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>the continued action of a weight or force. <BR> <I>Ex. The small box was flattened by the pressure of the heavy book on it. The pressure of the wind filled the sails of the boat.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>the force per unit of area. <BR> <I>Ex. There is a pressure of 20 pounds to the square inch on this tire. At sea level, air exerts a pressure in all directions of about 14.7 pounds per square inch (Thomas A. Blair).</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>(Figurative.) a state of trouble or strain. <BR> <I>Ex. the pressure of poverty, working under pressure.</I> <DD><B> 4. </B>(Figurative.) a compelling influence or force. <BR> <I>Ex. He changed his mind under pressure from others. Pressure was brought to bear on him to do better work. Society was constantly changing under the pressure of economic necessities (Edmund Wilson).</I> <DD><B> 5. </B>(Figurative.) the need for prompt or decisive action; urgency. <BR> <I>Ex. the pressure of business affairs.</I> <DD><B> 6. </B><B>=atmospheric pressure.</B> <DD><B> 7. </B><B>=electromotive force.</B> <DD><B> 8. </B>(Obsolete.) an impression; image; stamp. <DD><I>v.t., v.i. </I> to force or urge by exerting pressure; press (for). <BR> <I>Ex. The salesman tried to pressure my father into buying the car. Legislators cannot be pressured into voting for something that is unconstitutional (New York Times).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="pressurecabin">
<B>pressure cabin,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> an airplane cabin that can be pressurized. </DL>
<A NAME="pressurecook">
<B>pressure-cook, </B>transitive verb, intransitive verb.<DL COMPACT><DD> to cook in a pressure cooker. <BR> <I>Ex. These exotic ingredients were pressure-cooked on location (Time).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="pressurecooker">
<B>pressure cooker,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> an airtight container for cooking with steam under pressure. </DL>
<A NAME="pressurefed">
<B>pressure-fed, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> supplied by the force of pressure, such as that of a pump. <BR> <I>Ex. a pressure-fed fuel system.</I> </DL>
<A NAME="pressurefeed">
<B>pressure feed,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> the act or process of supplying by pressure. </DL>
<A NAME="pressureflaking">
<B>pressure flaking,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a flaking of flint tools by applying pressure with a hard point. </DL>
<A NAME="pressuregauge">
<B>pressure gauge,</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a device for measuring pressure, such as an attachment for indicating the pressure of steam in a boiler. <BR> <I>Ex. Pressure gauges will tell what portions of the foundations bear the most weight (Science News Letter).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>a device to measure the pressure in the bore or chamber of a gun when the charge explodes. </DL>
<A NAME="pressuregradient">
<B>pressure gradient,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> the rate at which atmospheric pressure decreases by units of horizontal distance along the line in which the pressure decreases most rapidly. </DL>
<A NAME="pressuregroup">
<B>pressure group,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> any business, professional, or labor group which attempts to further its own interests by exerting pressure on legislative bodies or administrative departments or agencies. <BR> <I>Ex. The guild helps its members in many other ways, by bargaining energetically with local councils and by forming a pressure group for showmen's interests in Parliament (Economist).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="pressurehead">
<B>pressure head,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (Physics.) the pressure of a liquid, such as at a given point in a pipe, expressed in terms of the height of a column of the liquid that would exert an equivalent pressure. </DL>
<A NAME="pressurehull">
<B>pressure hull,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> the hull, or part of the hull, of a submarine designed to withstand the pressure of the sea when submerged. </DL>
<A NAME="pressureice">
<B>pressure ice,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> ice forced together by tides of arctic waters, forming a kind of ridge. </DL>
<A NAME="pressurejump">
<B>pressure jump,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a sudden, slight increase in barometric pressure, occurring along an atmospheric front and preceding a tornado or other storm. </DL>
<A NAME="pressuremine">
<B>pressure mine,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> an underwater mine that is exploded by a change in water pressure caused by a passing ship. </DL>
<A NAME="pressureplate">
<B>pressure plate,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> the plate in a friction clutch that presses against the flywheel to transmit power to the transmission. </DL>
<A NAME="pressurepoint">
<B>pressure point,</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a point on the body where pressure applied to a blood vessel can check bleeding. <DD><B> 2. </B>a point in the skin where the terminal organs of nerves are located, making it extremely sensitive to pressure. <DD><B> 3. </B>the point at which the brakes of a vehicle take hold when the brake pedal is pushed down. </DL>
<A NAME="pressureridge">
<B>pressure ridge,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a ridge of ice in arctic waters caused by lateral pressure. </DL>
<A NAME="pressuresensitive">
<B>pressure-sensitive, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> sealing when pressure is applied. <BR> <I>Ex. Pressure-sensitive adhesive tape used to cover underground pipelines (Wall Street Journal).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="pressuresore">
<B>pressure sore,</B> =bedsore.</DL>
<A NAME="pressuresuit">
<B>pressure suit,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a garment that provides pressure upon the body so that respiration and circulation can continue normally, or nearly so, under low-pressure conditions such as occur at high altitudes. <BR> <I>Ex. ... struggled into a silver-tinted pressure suit that had been tailored to a skintight fit (Time).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="pressuretank">
<B>pressure tank,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a tank which holds air, fuel, or other fluid, under greater pressure than is normal in open atmospheric conditions. <BR> <I>Ex. Present launching sites of liquid-propelled missiles require ... heavily shielded bunkers of caves, containing corrosion-resistant pressure tanks for the dangerous liquids (Scientific American).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="pressurize">
<B>pressurize, </B>transitive verb, <B>-ized,</B> <B>-izing.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>to keep the atmospheric pressure inside (the cabin of an aircraft or spacecraft) at a normal level in spite of the altitude. <BR> <I>Ex. The pilot will have to be provided with air, presumably by pressurizing his cabin (Time).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>to place under high pressure. <BR> <I>Ex. If in some way hydrogen can be heated and pressurized, and it alone be the rocket propellant, we would realize a large gain in the velocity of the propellant (Scientific American). The reactor coolant system does not have to be pressurized (New York Times).</I> noun <B>pressurization.</B> </DL>
