squash

[ skwosh, skwawsh ]

/ skwɒʃ, skwɔʃ /

SEE SYNONYMS FOR squash ON THESAURUS.COM

verb (used with object)

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.

Words nearby squash

squaretail, squaretoed, squarish, squark, squarrose, squash, squash bug, squash ladder, squash vine borer, squash-blossom, squashable

Origin of squash

1555–65; < Middle French esquasser < Vulgar Latin *exquassāre. See ex-¹, quash

SYNONYMS FOR squash

2, 3 quell, crush, repress.

SEE SYNONYMS FOR squash ON THESAURUS.COM

OTHER WORDS FROM squash

squash·er, nounun·squashed, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for squashing

Your Ma, she say: 'What you doin' you bad boy,' and you answer 'Squashing the angel!'
Bolax|Josephine Culpeper
Next instant, a squashing thud, and a loud outcry, told me that it had fallen to the ground.
The House on the Borderland|William Hope Hodgson
The god swayed, groaned like a thing of life, and toppled over, squashing one of the howling witches—a blind one—like a red bug.
West Of The Sun|Edgar Pangborn
Fortunately for her the milk in the revolving churn at that moment changed its squashing for a decided flick-flack.
Tess of the d'Urbervilles|Thomas Hardy

The pike whistled over his head, barely missing, and he was up, squashing the big stone into the face of the other.
Police Your Planet|Lester del Rey

British Dictionary definitions for squashing (1 of 2)

squash¹

/ (skwɒʃ) /

verb

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

British a 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 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 lineSee also rackets

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

Derived forms of squash

squasher, noun

Word Origin for squash

C16: from Old French esquasser, from Vulgar Latin exquassāre (unattested), from Latin ex- 1 + quassāre to shatter

British Dictionary definitions for squashing (2 of 2)

squash²

/ (skwɒʃ) /

noun plural squashes or squash US 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

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

squash

verb (used with object)

verb (used without object)

noun

Content related to squash

Words related to squash

Words nearby squash

Origin of squash

SYNONYMS FOR squash

OTHER WORDS FROM squash

Examples from the Web for squashing

British Dictionary definitions for squashing (1 of 2)

verb

noun

Derived forms of squash

Word Origin for squash

British Dictionary definitions for squashing (2 of 2)

noun plural squashes or squash US and Canadian

Word Origin for squash