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Atmospheric pressure   /ˌætməsfˈɛrɪk prˈɛʃər/   Listen
noun
Pressure  n.  
1.
The act of pressing, or the condition of being pressed; compression; a squeezing; a crushing; as, a pressure of the hand.
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. "Where the pressure of danger was not felt."
3.
Affliction; distress; grievance. "My people's pressures are grievous." "In the midst of his great troubles and pressures."
4.
Urgency; as, the pressure of business.
5.
Impression; stamp; character impressed. "All saws of books, all forms, all pressures past."
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.
7.
Electro-motive force.
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.
Pressure gauge, a gauge for indicating fluid pressure; a manometer.



adjective
Atmospherical, Atmospheric  adj.  
1.
Of or pertaining to the atmosphere; of the nature of, or resembling, the atmosphere; as, atmospheric air; the atmospheric envelope of the earth.
2.
Existing or occurring in the atmosphere. "The lower atmospheric current."
3.
Caused, or operated on, by the atmosphere; as, an atmospheric effect; an atmospheric engine.
4.
Dependent on the atmosphere. (R.) "In am so atmospherical a creature."
Atmospheric engine, a steam engine whose piston descends by the pressure of the atmosphere, when the steam which raised it is condensed within the cylinder.
Atmospheric line (Steam Engin.), the equilibrium line of an indicator card. Steam is expanded "down to the atmosphere" when its pressure is equal to that of the atmosphere. (See Indicator card.)
Atmospheric pressure, the pressure exerted by the atmosphere, not merely downwards, but in every direction. In amounts to about 14.7 Ibs. on each square inch.
Atmospheric railway, one in which pneumatic power, obtained from compressed air or the creation of a vacuum, is the propelling force.
Atmospheric tides. See under Tide.






Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48








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"Atmospheric pressure" Quotes from Famous Books



... one that is unfavourable, I do the same. The meteorologist is able to tell with mathematical accuracy in his laboratory, after a glance at his instruments, not only the direction of the prevailing wind, but the atmospheric pressure and the degree of humidity as well. I am able only, however, to say with the pilot: "I sail this way," and then make head as ...
— Youth and Egolatry • Pio Baroja

... piston to the top of the cylinder; gunpowder placed in a tray at the bottom of the cylinder is now ignited, and expels the air with which the cylinder is filled through a shifting valve, and, after the products of combustion have cooled, a partial vacuum takes place and the atmospheric pressure forces down the piston to the bottom of its stroke, during which ...
— Scientific American Supplement, No. 484, April 11, 1885 • Various

... should have disagreeable, stormy weather, but this was not the case. During the whole year of our sojourn at the station we experienced only two moderate storms. The rest of the time light breezes prevailed, mainly from an easterly direction. Atmospheric pressure was as a rule very low, but remained constant. The temperature sank considerably, and I deem it probable that the mean annual temperature which we recorded, -26 deg. Centigrade, is the lowest mean temperature which ...
— The Great Events by Famous Historians, Vol. 21 - The Recent Days (1910-1914) • Charles F. Horne, Editor

... destroyed by the cold of outer space, but re-powering it was, of course, a small matter. The crew of the vessel were all dead. They were, however, of human stock, and of a type adapted for life upon a satellite. I deduce, from your compact structure, your enormous atmospheric pressure, and your, to us, unbelievably high body temperature, that you must be planet-dwellers. I suppose that you are ...
— Spacehounds of IPC • Edward Elmer Smith

... Agricultural Gazette has stated, that Professor Brocklesby, of Hartford, in America, had observed the same phenomena, in the case of two springs in that country; and explained, that the cause was 'the diminished atmospheric pressure which ...
— Farm drainage • Henry Flagg French

... its course by a sinuous ascent through a thin forest made a similar, though less steep, descent toward the enemy. For a mile to the left and a mile to the right, the ridge, though occupied by Federal infantry lying close behind the sharp crest and appearing as if held in place by atmospheric pressure, was inaccessible to artillery. There was no place but the bottom of the notch, and that was barely wide enough for the roadbed. From the Confederate side this point was commanded by two batteries posted on a slightly lower elevation beyond a creek, and a half-mile away. ...
— The Collected Works of Ambrose Bierce, Vol. II: In the Midst of Life: Tales of Soldiers and Civilians • Ambrose Bierce

... and Warren street, and extends under the great thoroughfare to a point a little below Murray street. It is dry and clean, is painted white, and is lighted with gas. It passes under all the gas and water pipes and sewers. The cars are made to fit the tunnel, and are propelled by means of atmospheric pressure. A strong blast of air, thrown out by means of an immense blowing machine, is forced against the rear end of a car, and sends it along the track like a sail-boat before the wind. This current of course secures perfect ventilation within ...
— Lights and Shadows of New York Life - or, the Sights and Sensations of the Great City • James D. McCabe

... large fish will appear, with the entire body bitten clean off, a hint of the monsters which must haunt the lower depths. The pressure of the air must be excessive, for many of the fishes have their swimming bladders fairly forced out of their mouths by the lessening of atmospheric pressure as they are drawn to the surface. When a basket starfish finds one of the baits in that sunless void far beneath our boat, he hugs it so tenaciously that the upward jerks of the reel only make him hold ...
— The Log of the Sun - A Chronicle of Nature's Year • William Beebe



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