1. The pressure within a process vessel or some other equipment, which exceeds its expected or intended design pressure.
2. A pulse of pressure that is above atmospheric pressure in the form of a blast wave as the result of an explosion. The peak positive overpressure is the maximum overpressure that is generated in the explosion. The side-on and reflected overpressures are the pressures experienced by a body placed in the path of the blast wave that offers no obstruction and diffracts the wave, respectively.