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air pressure

/ɛər ˌprɛʃər/
IPA guide

Other forms: air pressures

The weight of the air in the atmosphere is air pressure. You can measure air pressure using a barometer.

The force with which air is pressed down by gravity is air pressure, also known as atmospheric or barometric pressure. Meteorologists are interested in air pressure, as it's one of the main factors influencing weather. If you measure air pressure at the top of a very tall mountain, it will be lower than it is back down near sea level — this is because of the increasing thinness of the atmosphere at higher altitudes.

Definitions of air pressure
  1. noun
    the pressure exerted by the atmosphere
    see moresee less
    types:
    barometric pressure
    atmospheric pressure as indicated by a barometer
    compartment pressure
    the air pressure maintained in an air-tight compartment (as in an aircraft)
    overpressure
    a transient air pressure greater than the surrounding atmospheric pressure
    sea-level pressure
    the atmospheric pressure reduced by a formula to the pressure at sea level
    type of:
    gas pressure
    the pressure exerted by a gas
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