squelch

[ skwelch ]
See synonyms for: squelchsquelchedsquelches on Thesaurus.com

verb (used with object)
  1. to strike or press with crushing force; crush down; squash.

  2. to put down, suppress, or silence, as with a crushing retort or argument.

verb (used without object)
  1. to make a splashing sound.

  2. to tread heavily in water, mud, wet shoes, etc., with such a sound.

noun
  1. a squelched or crushed mass of anything.

  2. a splashing sound.

  1. an act of squelching or suppressing, as by a crushing retort or argument.

  2. Also called squelch circuit, noise suppressor. Electronics. a circuit in a receiver, as a radio receiver, that automatically reduces or eliminates noise when the receiver is tuned to a frequency at which virtually no carrier wave occurs.

Origin of squelch

1
1610–20; variant of quelch in same sense (perhaps blend of quell and quash); initial s perhaps from squash1

Other words from squelch

  • squelcher, noun
  • squelch·ing·ly, adverb
  • squelch·ing·ness, noun
  • un·squelched, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use squelch in a sentence

  • The path was clear—he could see it squelching below him, pale in the last wet daylight—but where the devil did it lead?

    The Path of the King | John Buchan
  • There is a stream, dark forms bending over the water, the squelching of feet in the mud.

  • On and on did Laurence walk, the mud and water squelching under his feet, until the road again broke off into two lanes.

  • Once again, and once again he struck, the flesh of her checks squelching under the blows.

    Egholm and his God | Johannes Buchholtz

British Dictionary definitions for squelch

squelch

/ (skwɛltʃ) /


verb
  1. (intr) to walk laboriously through soft wet material or with wet shoes, making a sucking noise

  2. (intr) to make such a noise

  1. (tr) to crush completely; squash

  2. (tr) informal to silence, as by a crushing retort

noun
  1. a squelching sound

  2. something that has been squelched

  1. electronics a circuit that cuts off the audio-frequency amplifier of a radio receiver in the absence of an input signal, in order to suppress background noise

  2. informal a crushing remark

Origin of squelch

1
C17: of imitative origin

Derived forms of squelch

  • squelcher, noun
  • squelching, adjective
  • squelchy, adjective

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012