squeegee
Americannoun
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an implement edged with rubber or the like, for removing water from windows after washing, sweeping water from wet decks, etc.
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a similar and smaller device, as for removing excess water from photographic negatives or prints or for forcing paint, ink, etc., through a porous surface, as in serigraphy.
verb (used with object)
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to sweep, scrape, or press with or as if with a squeegee.
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to force (paint, ink, etc.) through a screen in making a silk-screen print.
noun
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an implement with a rubber blade used for wiping away surplus water from a surface, such as a windowpane
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any of various similar devices used in photography for pressing the water out of wet prints or negatives or for squeezing prints onto a glazing surface
verb
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to remove (water or other liquid) from (something) by use of a squeegee
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(tr) to press down (a photographic print, etc) with a squeegee
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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squeegeesimple
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squeegeessimple
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have squeegeedperfect
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has squeegeedperfect
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am squeegeeingprogressive
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are squeegeeingprogressive
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is squeegeeingprogressive
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have been squeegeeingperfect progressive
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has been squeegeeingperfect progressive
Past
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squeegeedsimple
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had squeegeedperfect
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was squeegeeingprogressive
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were squeegeeingprogressive
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had been squeegeeingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of squeegee
First recorded in 1835–45; originally a nautical term; of obscure origin
Explanation
A squeegee is a tool that's used for cleaning windows. You can wash your windows without one, but a rubber-edged squeegee makes cleaning a lot easier (and more fun — because you get to say the word squeegee). The word squeegee first appeared among sailors, describing a leather-edged device for cleaning a ship's deck. In 1851's Moby Dick, there is a reference to a "leathern squilgee." The word probably comes from the now-obsolete verb squeege, "to press." This tool eventually evolved into the rubber and metal (or plastic) version we know today, used for printing, photography, and window cleaning.
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.
The pieces, all individually crafted, often require more than one squeegee pass.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 5, 2026
She displayed “Poppy,” a squeegee abstract in cheery red and blue hues, in her living room, with an untitled version in subtler white and green hues from 2009 hanging in her bedroom.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 9, 2026
"For a brief second, I thought there was someone with a squeegee mop cleaning the outside of the window. I turned around, and it was the bear's wet nose rubbing against the window."
From BBC • Apr. 8, 2026
Edan McPherson dips a long squeegee into a pool of melted chocolate, draws the rubber blade across the coarse mesh.
From New York Times • Sep. 1, 2023
She did it in four sections, wetting the glass, pulling the squeegee down over it firmly, squeezing the squeegee out and repeating the last step twice.
From "Homecoming" by Cynthia Voigt
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.
