squash

¹ American  

[skwosh, skwawsh] / skwɒʃ, skwɔʃ /

verb (used with object)

• squashes,
  present (3rd person singular)
• squashed,
  past participle,  past
• squashing
  present participle

1. to press into a flat mass or pulp; crush.

   She squashed the flower under her heel.

2. to suppress or put down; quash.

   Synonyms:

   repress, crush, quell

3. to silence or disconcert (someone), as with a crushing retort or emotional or psychological pressure.

4. to press forcibly against or cram into a small space; squeeze.

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verb (used without object)

• squashes,
  present (3rd person singular)
• squashed,
  past participle,  past
• squashing
  present participle

1. to be pressed into a flat mass or pulp.

2. (of a soft, heavy body) to fall heavily.

3. to make one's way with a splashing sound; splash.

4. to be capable of being or likely to be squashed.

   Tomatoes squash easily.

5. to squeeze or crowd; crush.

noun

1. the act or sound of squashing.

2. the fact of squashing or of being squashed.

3. something squashed or crushed.

4. something soft and easily crushed.

5. Also called squash racquets.  a game for two or four persons, similar to racquets but played on a smaller court and with a racket having a round head and a long handle.

6. Also called squash tennis.  a game for two persons, resembling squash racquets except that the ball is larger and livelier and the racket is shaped like a tennis racket.

7. British. a beverage made from fruit juice and soda water.

   lemon squash.

squash ² American  

[skwosh, skwawsh] / skwɒʃ, skwɔʃ /

noun

• squashes,
  plural
• squash
  plural

1. the fruit of any of various vinelike, tendril-bearing plants belonging to the genus Curcurbita, of the gourd family, as C. moschata or C. pepo, used as a vegetable.

2. any of these plants.

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squash ¹ British  

/ skwɒʃ /

verb

1. to press or squeeze or be pressed or squeezed in or down so as to crush, distort, or pulp

2. (tr) to suppress or overcome

3. (tr) to humiliate or crush (a person), esp with a disconcerting retort

4. (intr) to make a sucking, splashing, or squelching sound

5. to enter or insert in a confined space

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noun

1. a still drink made from fruit juice or fruit syrup diluted with water

2. a crush, esp of people in a confined space

3. something that is squashed

4. the act or sound of squashing or the state of being squashed

5. Also called: squash rackets.   squash racquets.  a game for two or four players played in an enclosed court with a small rubber ball and light long-handled rackets. The ball may be hit against any of the walls but must hit the facing wall at a point above a horizontal line See also rackets

6. Also called: squash tennis.  a similar game played with larger rackets and a larger pneumatic ball

squash ² British  

/ skwɒʃ /

noun

1. any of various marrow-like cucurbitaceous plants of the genus Cucurbita , esp C. pepo and C. moschata , the fruits of which have a hard rind surrounding edible flesh

2. the fruit of any of these plants, eaten as a vegetable

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• squasher
  noun
• unsquashed
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• squash
  plural
• squashes
  plural

Participles

• squashing
  present
• squashed
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• squash
  simple
• squashes
  simple
• have squashed
  perfect
• has squashed
  perfect
• am squashing
  progressive
• are squashing
  progressive
• is squashing
  progressive
• have been squashing
  perfect progressive
• has been squashing
  perfect progressive

Past

• squashed
  simple
• had squashed
  perfect
• was squashing
  progressive
• were squashing
  progressive
• had been squashing
  perfect progressive

Future

• will squash
  simple
• will have squashed
  perfect
• will be squashing
  progressive
• will have been squashing
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of squash¹

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English squachen, squatche “destroy, smash,” from Old French esquacher, esquasser, from Vulgar Latin exquassāre. (unrecorded), equivalent to ex- intensive prefix + quassāre “to shake”; see ex- ¹, quash

Origin of squash²

An Americanism dating back to 1635–45; from Narragansett ( English spelling) askútasquash (plural)

Explanation

A squash is the edible fruit of squash plant, but it's considered a vegetable in the kitchen, like peppers and tomatoes. As a verb, squash means to compress or mash — like the way your picky little sister might squash the roasted squash on her plate with a fork. Squash that grows on a vine comes from the Native American Narragansett word askutasquash, "the things that can be eaten raw." The game called squash has nothing to do with this plant or its delicious fruit. This racket sport's name comes from the fact that players hit the soft rubber ball so hard that they squash it.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

squash squashes squashed squashing

Next week, I’ll be back with five flexible recipes to keep in your pocket for market day—including the jammy squash pasta with chèvre and cornbread crumbs that started this whole reeducation.

From Salon ● Aug. 4, 2026

I ping-ponged from soft cheeses to eggs and squash, then past a gelato cart and a table crowded with jams, pepper jellies and a milk carton filled with VHS tapes.

From Salon ● Aug. 4, 2026

Firmly strung in a gridded pattern, squash rackets have more of an ovular shape.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 22, 2026

Badminton and squash were also scrapped and there will be no diving competitions.

From BBC ● Jul. 22, 2026

If Mini were here, she could make an enchantment of a giant shoe and squash the nightmare creature.

From "Aru Shah and the End of Time" by Roshani Chokshi

Drinks high in sugar can include fizzy sodas, energy drinks, sweetened juices, squashes, sweetened tea and coffee, and flavored milks.

From Science Daily ● Feb. 18, 2026

“If this thing falls on me and kills me, it’s gonna be like, ‘Giant-squash squashes squash-professor,’” he said.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 10, 2025

All you’ll need are two medium acorn squashes, cooked quinoa or wild rice, fresh or dried cranberries, chopped pecans or walnuts, diced onions, garlic, cinnamon, thyme, olive oil, salt and pepper.

From Salon ● Nov. 23, 2024

“Time bends. Space is boundless. It squashes a man’s ego. I feel lonely.”

From New York Times ● May 15, 2024

Now imagine that a giant hand comes down and squashes the book flat.

From "Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea" by Charles Seife

The Cubs, however, squashed thoughts of a potential comeback with a three-run rally in the sixth against Edgardo Henriquez and Tanner Scott.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 4, 2026

Chonkers’s great leap briefly squashed the side of the structure down to the level of the water.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 26, 2026

Desai said, as seeming moments of recovery in the past year or so were squashed by the L.A. wildfires, then last summer’s immigration crackdown and associated civil unrest.

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 29, 2026

For example, the likes of pugs, Frenchies and English bulldogs all have issues with their breathing because of their squashed facial features and Scottish Fold cats suffer a lot from arthritis.

From BBC ● Mar. 10, 2026

Her blond curls were messy and squashed on one side, her eyes pink and the skin around them puffed up like mascara-stained marshmallows.

From "The Miseducation of Cameron Post" by emily m. danforth

Concerns about AI squashing software company earnings turning into a run on private-credit funds lending to software firms.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 12, 2026

Jacob Ulibarri spent about six hours on New Year’s Day last year squashing hot spots where the Lachman fire had burned.

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 11, 2026

The retired farmer had queued up on November 29 at a launch of Bardella's new book in the southern town of Moissac, squashing an egg on his head when he reached him.

From Barron's ● Jan. 9, 2026

Or the person next to the window who keeps getting up to go to the toilet, or the person in front who has suddenly put their seat back, squashing your knees.

From BBC ● Sep. 28, 2024

A chimpanzee shudders and grimaces when it touches a big black spider, like you and I would do, before squashing it angrily with its knuckles, not something you and I would do.

From "Life of Pi" by Yann Martel

Related Words

• crush
• extinguish
• flatten
• quash
• quell
• squish
• suppress
• trample