Medical Definition of adhesive. 1: an adhesive substance; especially : a substance (as glue, starch, paste, or mucilage) that bonds two materials together by adhering to the surface of each.
The sensors physically measure the tire pressure in each tire and report it to the vehicle's instrument cluster or a corresponding monitor. Some units also measure and alert temperatures of the tire as well. These systems can identify under-inflation in any combination, be it one tire or all, simultaneously.
For a tire-pressure sensor to be completely effective, it must have several capabilities to allow for the various maintenance personnel groups to use them. First, each driver is required to do a pre-trip inspection, so it is beneficial if the tire-pressure monitor has an indicator that can be read without tools.