PRESSOR

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does pressor mean? 

• PRESSOR (noun)
  The noun PRESSOR has 1 sense:

1. any agent that causes a narrowing of an opening of a blood vessel: cold or stress or nicotine or epinephrine or norepinephrine or angiotensin or vasopressin or certain drugs; maintains or increases blood pressure

  Familiarity information: PRESSOR used as a noun is very rare.

• PRESSOR (adjective)
  The adjective PRESSOR has 1 sense:

1. increasing (or tending to increase) blood pressure

  Familiarity information: PRESSOR used as an adjective is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• PRESSOR (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Any agent that causes a narrowing of an opening of a blood vessel: cold or stress or nicotine or epinephrine or norepinephrine or angiotensin or vasopressin or certain drugs; maintains or increases blood pressure

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

pressor; vasoconstrictive; vasoconstrictor

Hypernyms ("pressor" is a kind of...):

agent (an active and efficient cause; capable of producing a certain effect)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "pressor"):

adrenergic; adrenergic drug (drug that has the effects of epinephrine)

angiotensin; angiotonin; Hypertensin (any of several vasoconstrictor substances (trade name Hypertensin) that cause narrowing of blood vessels)

lypressin (an antidiuretic and vasoconstrictor used to treat diabetes insipidus)

naphazoline; Privine; Sudafed (vasoconstrictor (trade names Privine and Sudafed) used in nasal sprays to treat symptoms of nasal congestion and in eyedrops to treat eye irritation)

vasopressor (any agent that produces vasoconstriction and a rise in blood pressure (usually understood as increased arterial pressure))

cold; coldness; frigidity; frigidness; low temperature (the absence of heat)

noradrenaline; norepinephrine (a catecholamine precursor of epinephrine that is secreted by the adrenal medulla and also released at synapses)

Adrenalin; adrenaline; epinephrin; epinephrine (a catecholamine secreted by the adrenal medulla in response to stress (trade name Adrenalin); stimulates autonomic nerve action)

ADH; antidiuretic hormone; Pitressin; vasopressin (hormone secreted by the posterior pituitary gland (trade name Pitressin) and also by nerve endings in the hypothalamus; affects blood pressure by stimulating capillary muscles and reduces urine flow by affecting reabsorption of water by kidney tubules)

nicotine (an alkaloid poison that occurs in tobacco; used in medicine and as an insecticide)

• PRESSOR (adjective)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Increasing (or tending to increase) blood pressure

Classified under:

Relational adjectives (pertainyms)

Context example:

pressor reflexes

Domain category:

physiology (the branch of the biological sciences dealing with the functioning of organisms)

Pertainym:

blood pressure (the pressure of the circulating blood against the walls of the blood vessels; results from the systole of the left ventricle of the heart; sometimes measured for a quick evaluation of a person's health)

 Context examples 

Eprosartan blocks the binding of angiotensin II to the angiotensin (AT)1 receptor in vascular smooth muscle, thereby blocking the principal pressor action of angiotensin II on the renin-angiotensin system resulting in vascular dilatation.

(Eprosartan, NCI Thesaurus)

Hypertrophy and hyperplasia of the juxtaglomerular cells, producing hypokalemic alkalosis and hyperaldosteronism, characterized by absence of hypertension in the presence of markedly increased plasma renin concentrations, and by insensitivity to the pressor effects of angiotensin.

(Bartter Syndrome, NLM, Medical Subject Headings)