pressure cooker
Americannoun
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a reinforced pot, usually of steel or aluminum, in which soups, meats, vegetables, etc., may be cooked quickly in heat above boiling point by steam maintained under pressure.
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any situation, job, assignment, etc., in which a person is faced with urgent responsibilities or demands by other people, constant deadlines, or a hectic work schedule.
noun
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a strong hermetically sealed pot in which food may be cooked quickly under pressure at a temperature above the normal boiling point of water
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informal a trainee student attending a shortened qualifying course
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of pressure cooker
First recorded in 1910–15
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
"It becomes a kind of pressure cooker," she explains.
From BBC ● May 16, 2026
Tax preparation is a seasonal business — and a hectic pressure cooker.
From MarketWatch ● Mar. 13, 2026
Alicia describes the panto experience as a "little pressure cooker" as they're up against tight turnarounds and short runs.
From BBC ● Dec. 30, 2025
Shale drillers have turned the biggest oil field in the U.S. into a pressure cooker that is literally bursting at the seams.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 26, 2025
Like a pressure cooker, it is designed to hold together even as extreme amounts of steam build up inside it.
From "Meltdown" by Deirdre Langeland
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
