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

Though Dylan Baker is amusingly smarmy as an executive, “Saturday Night Live” star Sarah Sherman gets stuck waving around a squash racket in the very broadly written role of Kris’s agent.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 6, 2026

Perhaps the squash looks better than the zucchini.

From Salon ● Aug. 4, 2026

At home, I cooked the onion and grated squash in butter with a spoonful of honey, miso and red-pepper flakes until they became jammy.

From Salon ● Aug. 4, 2026

In December 1942, physicist Enrico Fermi set off humanity’s first nuclear chain reaction, in a squash court at the University of Chicago.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 28, 2026

“I do apologize,” I say, removing my backside from the squash of her box.

From "The Bletchley Riddle" by Ruta Sepetys and Steve Sheinkin

“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

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

From New York Times ● May 15, 2024

The gravitational pull also squashes the spacetime, altering its shape depending on how it's observed.

From Science Daily ● Feb. 21, 2024

The official title for their new record given by Guinness is the largest Cucurbita mosaic - the genre for varieties of pumpkins and squashes.

From BBC ● Oct. 23, 2023

People moved up and down the rows gathering corn, squashes, tomatoes or cucumbers into bushel baskets.

From "Homecoming" by Cynthia Voigt

It is another sign of water vole activity - squashed poo.

From BBC ● Aug. 14, 2026

The factory that AFP visited in Hunan province's Pingjiang turns out nearly 700 tonnes per day of the spongy, red-coloured strips, which look like squashed French fries covered in oil.

From Barron's ● Aug. 14, 2026

Kirby compared the situation to the pandemic in 2020, when a global shutdown squashed demand and travel.

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 28, 2026

They’re scouting whose strategies should be amplified after generating a great return, and what wastefulness should be squashed.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 18, 2026

Dallas and Florida were squashed in between Tiller and Sairy Morey on the front seat of their old truck, bouncing along on the road out of town.

From "Ruby Holler" by Sharon Creech

And he hadn’t allowed more than one baserunner in any inning, squashing the scrappy Rays’ ability to manufacture a run.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 17, 2026

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

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

Police said the owner of the Lawson convenience store had claimed he had seen the woman squashing buns several times in the past.

From BBC ● Feb. 14, 2025

I clocked out and left without no good-byes and stomp down the street like I was squashing bugs.

From "Girls Like Us" by Gail Giles

Related Words

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