pressure

pressurenoun

Pressure is a force pushing on something, or a feeling of stress caused by difficult demands.

1. physical forcethe force produced when something pushes against or on something else

   countable or uncountable [C/U]

   • The water pressure in this building is very low.
   • Check the air pressure in your tires before a long trip.
   • The doctor took his blood pressure.
   • Engineers measured the pressures at several points along the pipe. (plural, for separate measurements)

   Collocations

   noun + noun water pressure, air pressure, blood pressure

   verb + noun apply pressure, release pressure

2. stressa feeling of stress caused by having to deal with a difficult situation or too many demands

   countable or uncountable [C/U]

   • She works well under pressure.
   • He felt a lot of pressure to finish the report on time.
   • Her parents put pressure on her to study medicine.
   • The pressures of city life can be exhausting. (plural, for the different sources of stress)

   Collocations

   verb + noun put pressure on someone, feel pressure, handle pressure

   phrase under pressure

   noun + noun peer pressure, time pressure