pressurize

[ presh-uh-rahyz ]

verb (used with object)

, pres·sur·ized, pres·sur·iz·ing.

1. to raise the internal atmospheric pressure of to the required or desired level:

   to pressurize an astronaut's spacesuit before a walk in space.

2. to maintain normal air pressure in (the cockpit or cabin of an airplane) at high altitudes.
3. to apply pressure to (a gas or liquid); supercharge.
4. to pressure-cook.

pressurize

/ ˈprɛʃəˌraɪz /

verb

1. to increase the pressure in (an enclosure, such as an aircraft cabin) in order to maintain approximately atmospheric pressure when the external pressure is low
2. to increase pressure on (a fluid)
3. to make insistent demands of (someone); coerce

Derived Forms

• ˈpressurˌizer, noun
• ˌpressuriˈzation, noun

Other Words From

• pressur·izer noun
• re·pressu·rize verb repressurized repressurizing

Word History and Origins

Origin of pressurize¹

First recorded in 1940–45; pressure + -ize

Example Sentences

They could pressurize them because the Taliban are looking for legitimacy.

From Time

On Monday, an Air India plane carrying 328 oxygen concentrators, which pull oxygen from the air and pressurize it into higher concentrations for medical use, landed at New Delhi’s Indira Gandhi airport from New York.

From Time

“We have someone we can pressurize now, someone we can persuade,” she says.

From MIT Technology Review

Bear sprays are also pressurized to travel further — 30 to 35 feet — than the smaller self-defense products.

From Washington Post

He knows the team is depending on him to be aggressive and take shots when he’s open on offense, but his expanded role on the team feels freeing rather than pressurized.

From Washington Post

Later, in the last moments of descent, he would snap down the face plate and pressurize the suit.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• cause
• charge
• compel
• demand
• drag
• drive
• impose
• inflict
• limit
• make
• move
• oblige
• order
• press
• pressure
• require
• restrict
• urge