to press into a flat mass or pulp; crush: She squashed the flower under her heel.
to suppress or put down; quash.
to silence or disconcert (someone), as with a crushing retort or emotional or psychological pressure.
to press forcibly against or cram into a small space; squeeze.
verb (used without object)
to be pressed into a flat mass or pulp.
(of a soft, heavy body) to fall heavily.
to make a splashing sound; splash.
to be capable of being or likely to be squashed: Tomatoes squash easily.
to squeeze or crowd; crush.
noun
the act or sound of squashing.
the fact of squashing or of being squashed.
something squashed or crushed.
something soft and easily crushed.
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.
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.
British. a beverage made from fruit juice and soda water: lemon squash.
Origin of squash
1
1555–65; < Middle Frenchesquasser < Vulgar Latin*exquassāre. See ex-1, quash
Related formssquash·er, nounun·squashed, adjective
to press or squeeze or be pressed or squeezed in or down so as to crush, distort, or pulp
(tr)to suppress or overcome
(tr)to humiliate or crush (a person), esp with a disconcerting retort
(intr)to make a sucking, splashing, or squelching sound
(often foll by in or into) to enter or insert in a confined space
noun
Britisha still drink made from fruit juice or fruit syrup diluted with water
a crush, esp of people in a confined space
something that is squashed
the act or sound of squashing or the state of being squashed
Also called: squash rackets, squash racquetsa 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 lineSee also rackets
Also called: squash tennisa similar game played with larger rackets and a larger pneumatic ball
Derived Formssquasher, noun
Word Origin for squash
C16: from Old French esquasser, from Vulgar Latin exquassāre (unattested), from Latin ex-1 + quassāre to shatter
squash
2
nounpluralsquashesorsquashUS and Canadian
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
the fruit of any of these plants, eaten as a vegetable
Word Origin for squash
C17: from Narraganset askutasquash, literally: green vegetable eaten green
"to crush," 1560s, from Old French esquasser "to crush," from Vulgar Latin *exquassare, from Latin ex- "out" (see ex-) + quassare "to shatter" (see quash "to crush"). Related: Squashed; squashing. The racket game is first recorded by that name in 1886, originally it was the name of the soft rubber ball used in it.
squash
n.
"gourd fruit," 1640s, shortened borrowing from Narraganset (Algonquian) askutasquash, literally "the green things that may be eaten raw," from askut "green, raw" + asquash "eaten," in which the -ash is a plural affix (cf. succotash).
