quash
Americanverb (used with object)
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quashes,
present (3rd person singular)
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quashed,
past participle, past
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quashing
present participle
verb
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to subdue forcefully and completely; put down; suppress
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to annul or make void (a law, decision, etc)
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to reject (an indictment, writ, etc) as invalid
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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quashsimple
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quashessimple
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have quashedperfect
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has quashedperfect
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am quashingprogressive
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are quashingprogressive
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is quashingprogressive
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have been quashingperfect progressive
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has been quashingperfect progressive
Past
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quashedsimple
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had quashedperfect
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was quashingprogressive
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were quashingprogressive
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had been quashingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of quash
1300–50; Middle English quashen to smash, break, overcome, suppress < Old French quasser, in part < Latin quassāre to shake (frequentative of quatere to shake; cf. concussion); in part < Late Latin cassāre to annul, derivative of Latin cassus empty, void
Explanation
Quash means to put down, stop, extinguish, and it’s usually used to talk about ideas, feelings, or political movements. You wouldn’t quash a grape underfoot; you would squash it. But if you were a military dictator, you would quash a revolution. Quash is an extreme word. It comes from the French word for smash, or shatter. If something is quashed it is completely suppressed, usually by something or someone very powerful or authoritative. If you wrote a poem and asked your favorite teacher to read it, and that teacher tore it to pieces, then your hopes were most likely quashed.
Vocabulary lists containing quash
40 SAT words Beginning with "Q"
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Scrabble: Words that Begin with Q
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Murrill is now using that discredited plea deal against Brooks, just as she did in Duncan’s case, in an attempt to quash his compensation claim.
From Salon ● Aug. 10, 2026
The legal nonprofit Civil Liberties Defense Center filed a motion seeking to quash the subpoena, arguing that their client was exercising protected free speech.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 4, 2026
It is a savvy move and coalition-building exercise that likely will quash accusations Warsh is ripping apart the very fabric of the Fed.
From Barron's ● Jun. 18, 2026
Baroness Louise Casey, who led the national investigation into grooming gangs, called on the government last year to quash any convictions of victims who were criminalised when they should have been protected.
From BBC ● Jun. 12, 2026
I grit my teeth and quash an impulse to throw a trowel at it.
From "Internment" by Samira Ahmed
This quashes the convictions of sub-postmasters convicted in the Horizon scandal in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
From BBC ● May 25, 2024
Many officers have described to me problems that include “kill the messenger” management that quashes bad news, as well as dangerous supervision lapses, watered-down policing standards and policing-knowledge gaps.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 15, 2024
Critics maintain that it reinforces privilege and quashes diversity.
From New York Times ● Jul. 27, 2023
Playoff realities might have eased occasional losses because only a second loss quashes the dream.
From Washington Post ● Jan. 9, 2022
Outside old Mrs. Picture's door comes a moment of irresolution, but she quashes it and goes on.
From When Ghost Meets Ghost by William Frend De Morgan
A previous order by former minister Edwin Poots for a cull of badgers was quashed by the High Court.
From BBC ● Aug. 2, 2026
The newspaper had challenged the government requests for phone records of reporters and grand jury testimony as an attempt to "intimidate" the press and filed a motion to have them quashed.
From Barron's ● Jul. 23, 2026
An inquest into the death of a 14-year-old boy, following what his mother believes was an online challenge gone wrong, is to be re-opened after its original conclusion was quashed at the High Court.
From BBC ● Jul. 16, 2026
District Court Judge Patrick Schiltz quashed the “unlawful” subpoenas, ruling that “overwhelming evidence” suggested they “were not issued to investigate, but to harass, coerce, and retaliate.”
From Slate ● Jun. 22, 2026
In August, the court quashed one of the two charges under the Suppression of Communism Act.
From "Long Walk to Freedom" by Nelson Mandela
Most important, she outmaneuvered the Texas judge by quashing the subpoena itself, finding that it was an illegitimate and unconstitutional invasion of privacy.
From Slate ● May 19, 2026
The real-estate lobby had been successful in quashing previous efforts to tax second homes, including in 2014 and 2019.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 16, 2026
For decades, corporate executives have been quashing workers’ efforts to gain a fair reward for their labor.
From MarketWatch ● Apr. 6, 2026
The court rejected this on July 16, saying there was "no legal basis" for quashing the warrants while the jurisdiction challenge was pending.
From Barron's ● Oct. 17, 2025
The Court decided in Mr. Bradlaugh's favor and granted a rule quashing Mr. Vaughan's order, and with this fell the order of the Middlesex magistrates.
From Autobiographical Sketches by Annie Wood Besant
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
