pressure cooker

noun

1
: an airtight utensil for quick cooking or preserving of foods by means of high-temperature steam under pressure
2
: a situation or environment that is fraught with emotional or social pressures
pressure-cook verb

Examples of pressure cooker in a Sentence

The new boss has turned the office into a pressure cooker.
Recent Examples on the Web With the Film Academy, Ruderman has been able to help the industry address that historically exclusionary pressure cooker, focusing its dedication to disability rights in other corners of society on an industry that may be finally ready to move forward after decades of lagging behind. Abbey White, The Hollywood Reporter, 7 Mar. 2024 In the pressure cooker of Division I football and basketball, how could higher education better manage the balancing of winning and educational interests? Donna Lopiano, Forbes, 18 Feb. 2024 The setting is in the guts of a high-volume midtown Manhattan restaurant called The Grill — a hectic pressure cooker where personal and professional concerns come to a boil. Peter Debruge, Variety, 16 Feb. 2024 The pressure cooker works by creating a sealed chamber, which allows steam to build as the contents are heated. Tribune News Service, Hartford Courant, 14 Jan. 2024 Some compared the case to that of the Tsarnaev brothers, Dzhokhar and Tamerlan, who were convicted of planting and detonating two pressure cooker bombs at separate spots near the finish line of the Boston Marathon in 2013. Patrick Smith, NBC News, 30 Jan. 2024 Use the instructions for the slow cooker version or the pressure cooker version to best suit your schedule. Sheena Chihak, Better Homes & Gardens, 25 Jan. 2024 This is one of the youngest teams in the league, so how are those guys going to hold up in the pressure cooker of the playoffs? Gary Klein, Los Angeles Times, 2 Jan. 2024 The college process is already a pressure cooker that’s been dialed up to roasting chicken levels over the years. Chloe Berger, Fortune, 7 Feb. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'pressure cooker.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

1915, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of pressure cooker was in 1915

Dictionary Entries Near pressure cooker

Cite this Entry

“Pressure cooker.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pressure%20cooker. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

pressure cooker

noun
: a utensil for cooking or preserving foods by means of steam under pressure
pressure-cook
ˌpresh-ər-ˈku̇k
verb

More from Merriam-Webster on pressure cooker

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