pressure cooker

American  

Or pressure-cooker

noun

• pressure cookers
  plural

1. 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.

2. 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.

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pressure cooker British  

noun

1. a strong hermetically sealed pot in which food may be cooked quickly under pressure at a temperature above the normal boiling point of water

2. informal a trainee student attending a shortened qualifying course

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• pressure cookers
  plural

Etymology

Origin of pressure cooker

First recorded in 1910–15

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

pressure cooker

He batted against Hall-of-Famers, frequently slammed face-first into outfield fences and experienced the pressure cooker of the postseason.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 24, 2026

But there was, indeed, a brief aperture of time in the pressure cooker of 2020 when it all seemed possible.

From Slate ● Aug. 17, 2026

"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

The pressure cooker had a whistle-shaped thing on the top.

From "Cat's Eye" by Margaret Atwood