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pressurize

[presh-uh-rahyz]
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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.
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Also especially British, pres·sur·ise.

Origin of pressurize

First recorded in 1940–45; pressure + -ize
Related formspres·sur·iz·er, nounre·pres·su·rize, verb, re·pres·su·rized, re·pres·su·riz·ing.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for pressurize

start, require, cause, force, drive, urge, sue, worry, demand, push, assail, squeeze, petition, cheat, pinch, extract, wring, intimidate, menace, scare

Examples from the Web for pressurize

Historical Examples of pressurize

  • 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

verb (tr)
  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
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Derived Formspressurization 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

Word Origin and History for pressurize

v.

1938 (implied in pressurized), from pressure (n.) + -ize. Related: Pressurizing.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper