pressurize

[ presh-uh-rahyz ]

/ ˈprɛʃ əˌraɪz /

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See synonyms for pressurize on Thesaurus.com

verb (used with object), pres·sur·ized, pres·sur·iz·ing.

to raise the internal atmospheric pressure of to the required or desired level: to pressurize an astronaut's spacesuit before a walk in space.

to maintain normal air pressure in (the cockpit or cabin of an airplane) at high altitudes.

to apply pressure to (a gas or liquid); supercharge.

to pressure-cook.

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Also especially British, pres·sur·ise .

Origin of pressurize

First recorded in 1940–45; pressure + -ize

OTHER WORDS FROM pressurize

pres·sur·iz·er, nounre·pres·su·rize, verb, re·pres·su·rized, re·pres·su·riz·ing.

Words nearby pressurize

pressure ulcer, pressure-vacuum valve, pressure vessel, pressure welding, pressurization, pressurize, pressurized, pressurized suit, pressurized-water reactor, presswork, prest

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use pressurize in a sentence

They could pressurize them because the Taliban are looking for legitimacy.
'What Will Happen When the World Looks Away?' An Afghan Teacher on How the World Can Protect Girls From the Taliban|Abhishyant Kidangoor|August 26, 2021|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.
How Countries Around the World Are Helping India Fight COVID-19—and How You Can Too|Billy Perrigo|April 27, 2021|Time
“We have someone we can pressurize now, someone we can persuade,” she says.
A feminist internet would be better for everyone|Emily Luong|April 1, 2021|MIT Technology Review
Bear sprays are also pressurized to travel further — 30 to 35 feet — than the smaller self-defense products.
Bear spray is showing up at protests and riots. Here’s why, and how it affects humans.|John Briley|March 19, 2021|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.
The Wizards’ ‘Wolfman’ is coming out of the dark|Ava Wallace|February 26, 2021|Washington Post
Later, in the last moments of descent, he would snap down the face plate and pressurize the suit.
First on the Moon|Jeff Sutton

British Dictionary definitions for pressurize

pressurize

pressurise

/ (ˈprɛʃəˌraɪz) /

verb (tr)

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

to increase pressure on (a fluid)

to make insistent demands of (someone); coerce

Derived forms of pressurize

pressurization or pressurisation, nounpressurizer or pressuriser, noun

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

pressurize

Origin of pressurize

OTHER WORDS FROM pressurize

Words nearby pressurize

Words related to pressurize

How to use pressurize in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for pressurize

pressurise

Derived forms of pressurize