Noah Webster's New International Dictionary of the English Language

1. (n.) The act of pressing, or the condition of being pressed; compression; a squeezing; a crushing; as, a pressure of the hand.

2. (n.) 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.

3. (n.) Affliction; distress; grievance.

4. (n.) Urgency; as, the pressure of business.

5. (n.) Impression; stamp; character impressed.

6. (n.) 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 upon a unit's area.