pressures

1. 1
   noun

   Plural of pressure.

   The competing pressures of work and family left her little time to rest.

   Atmospheric pressures vary with altitude and temperature.

   Note

   A plural that exists because pressure can be counted. Most senses of the noun work both ways, so a writer chooses: pressure from work and family treats the strain as one mass, while the competing pressures of work and family sets separate forces against each other. In measurement the plural names distinct values, such as readings at different altitudes. The same spelling is also the verb's present-tense form.

2. 2
   verb

   Third-person singular simple present of pressure.

   The committee pressures local officials into approving the project quickly.

   Advertising constantly pressures consumers to buy the newest model.

   Note

   Only he, she, it or a singular noun takes this form in the present; I, you, we and they take plain pressure. The verb is transitive and usually continues with into plus an -ing form or to plus an infinitive: it pressures officials into approving, pressures consumers to buy. Unlike the noun plural, it has a subject before it and an object after.

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