squelch

American  

[skwelch] / skwɛltʃ /

verb (used with object)

• squelches,
  present (3rd person singular)
• squelched,
  past participle,  past
• squelching
  present participle

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.

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verb (used without object)

• squelches,
  present (3rd person singular)
• squelched,
  past participle,  past
• squelching
  present participle

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.

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

4. Also called noise suppressor.  Also called squelch circuit,.  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.

squelch British  

/ 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

3. (tr) to crush completely; squash

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

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noun

1. a squelching sound

2. something that has been squelched

3. 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

4. informal a crushing remark

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• squelcher
  noun
• squelchingness
  noun
• squelching
  adjective
• squelchy
  adjective
• unsquelched
  adjective
• squelchingly
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Participles

• squelching
  present
• squelched
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• squelch
  simple
• squelches
  simple
• have squelched
  perfect
• has squelched
  perfect
• am squelching
  progressive
• are squelching
  progressive
• is squelching
  progressive
• have been squelching
  perfect progressive
• has been squelching
  perfect progressive

Past

• squelched
  simple
• had squelched
  perfect
• was squelching
  progressive
• were squelching
  progressive
• had been squelching
  perfect progressive

Future

• will squelch
  simple
• will have squelched
  perfect
• will be squelching
  progressive
• will have been squelching
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of squelch

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

Explanation

When you squelch something, you're putting an end to it. You can squelch an idea or a rebellion. This word has several meanings, but it's usually a verb for crushing things. A mean remark could squelch your self-confidence, and a powerful military could squelch an invading country. Squelching can also mean to make a squelch-like sucking sound — or to slop, slosh, splash, and squish through the mud. There's also a type of electric circuit that cuts off when the signal is weak: that's a squelch circuit, which squelches the connection.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

squelch squelches squelched squelching

When the economy is overheating, bond yields will rise, which will slow the economy and squelch the threat of higher inflation.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 30, 2026

Still, she said, the case revealed "a series of statements by Zuckerberg at the time of those acquisitions that looked like a desire to squelch a nascent threat to Facebook's dominance".

From BBC ● Nov. 18, 2025

In fact, both Black activists and congressional champions of Reconstruction understood that race still mattered, and that made it critical to give Congress broad powers to squelch efforts to suppress or cancel out Black votes.

From Slate ● Oct. 7, 2025

The case is a headache that CEO Shari Redstone does not need as she pursues a high-stakes sale of the company, a deal the FCC itself could squelch.

From Salon ● Mar. 4, 2025

Gary Edwards scored the go-ahead touchdown, intercepted a pass to squelch a Plano East comeback, and then scored again.

From "Friday Night Lights: A Town, A Team, And A Dream" by H.G. Bissinger

What crushes confidence is uncertainty that squelches investment.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 12, 2026

As she explained in a recent phone call, she was gobsmacked by the result, a dance track that mixes laser squelches, piano chords, a skittering beat and Croft’s wistful vocals.

From New York Times ● Oct. 26, 2022

Antiretroviral treatment squelches HIV reproduction but sensitive tests show that even with the most effective treatments, small populations of white blood cells studded with the CD4 receptor harbor HIV’s DNA in a latent state.

From Science Magazine ● Aug. 3, 2022

Now, the looming Amazon-Whole Foods tie-up squelches confidence in those hopes.

From Seattle Times ● Jul. 14, 2017

It squelches independent inquiry, and makes such a thing impossible, profane, criminal, it authoritatively settles every dispute that can arise.

From Christian Science by Mark Twain

Touring the Marylander Condominiums in Prince George’s County, Md., I noticed how the ground squelched under my shoes.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 1, 2026

So far, the higher rates have softened but not squelched buyer demand in the spring home-buying season, he noted.

From MarketWatch ● Mar. 26, 2026

Had there been better information, a more bounded threat, the arms race of the missile age might have been squelched before it took off.

From Slate ● Feb. 3, 2026

The fabled front was always understood to be window dressing veiling frustrations, squelched desires, and other malignancies.

From Salon ● Nov. 21, 2023

The other kids took their shoes off before they squelched around in the mud, but I figured with my artificial legs, everything would be just fine.

From "Ugly" by Robert Hoge

To her, the shift in messaging, and the squelching of this routine announcement, is alarming.

From Salon ● Mar. 29, 2025

"The amount of water that came in was horrendous," she said, explaining how the carpets were "squelching" underfoot and almost all of her son's things were drenched.

From BBC ● Dec. 2, 2023

“Keenan Allen isn’t going anywhere,” Telesco said, squelching speculation that cutting the veteran wide receiver is an option being considered.

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 1, 2023

Wednesday to shovel mud out from under the cars that had been mired along Fredonia Drive, their boots slipping and squelching in the thick sludge that still stood a few feet high in some areas.

From New York Times ● Jan. 11, 2023

I was soaked through and squelching with every step.

From "A Walk in the Woods" by Bill Bryson

Related Words

• crush
• extinguish
• muffle
• oppress
• repress
• smother
• squash
• stifle
• thwart