'Atmospheric pressure' definitions:

Definition of 'atmospheric pressure'

From: WordNet
noun
The pressure exerted by the atmosphere [syn: atmospheric pressure, air pressure, pressure]

Definition of 'Atmospheric pressure'

From: GCIDE
  • Pressure \Pres"sure\ (?; 138), n. [OF., fr. L. pressura, fr. premere. See 4th Press.]
  • 1. The act of pressing, or the condition of being pressed; compression; a squeezing; a crushing; as, a pressure of the hand. [1913 Webster]
  • 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. [1913 Webster]
  • Where the pressure of danger was not felt. --Macaulay. [1913 Webster]
  • 3. Affliction; distress; grievance. [1913 Webster]
  • My people's pressures are grievous. --Eikon Basilike. [1913 Webster]
  • In the midst of his great troubles and pressures. --Atterbury. [1913 Webster]
  • 4. Urgency; as, the pressure of business. [1913 Webster]
  • 5. Impression; stamp; character impressed. [1913 Webster]
  • All saws of books, all forms, all pressures past. --Shak. [1913 Webster]
  • 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. [1913 Webster]
  • 7. 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]