squelch

American  

[skwelch] / skwɛltʃ /

verb (used with object)

• squelches,
  present (3rd person singular)
• squelched,
  past participle,  past
• squelching
  present participle

1. to strike or press with crushing force; crush down; squash.

2. to put down, suppress, or silence, as with a crushing retort or argument.

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verb (used without object)

• squelches,
  present (3rd person singular)
• squelched,
  past participle,  past
• squelching
  present participle

1. to make a splashing sound.

2. to tread heavily in water, mud, wet shoes, etc., with such a sound.

noun

1. a squelched or crushed mass of anything.

2. a splashing sound.

3. an act of squelching or suppressing, as by a crushing retort or argument.

4. Also called noise suppressor, squelch circuit. Electronics. a circuit in a receiver, as a radio receiver, that automatically reduces or eliminates noise when the receiver is tuned to a frequency at which virtually no carrier wave occurs.

squelch British  

/ skwɛltʃ /

verb

1. (intr) to walk laboriously through soft wet material or with wet shoes, making a sucking noise

2. (intr) to make such a noise

3. (tr) to crush completely; squash

4. informal (tr) to silence, as by a crushing retort

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noun

1. a squelching sound

2. something that has been squelched

3. electronics a circuit that cuts off the audio-frequency amplifier of a radio receiver in the absence of an input signal, in order to suppress background noise

4. informal a crushing remark

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• squelcher
  noun
• squelchingness
  noun
• squelching
  adjective
• squelchy
  adjective
• unsquelched
  adjective
• squelchingly
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Participles

• squelching
  present
• squelched
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• squelch
  simple
• squelches
  simple
• have squelched
  perfect
• has squelched
  perfect
• am squelching
  progressive
• are squelching
  progressive
• is squelching
  progressive
• have been squelching
  perfect progressive
• has been squelching
  perfect progressive

Past

• squelched
  simple
• had squelched
  perfect
• was squelching
  progressive
• were squelching
  progressive
• had been squelching
  perfect progressive

Future

• will squelch
  simple
• will have squelched
  perfect
• will be squelching
  progressive
• will have been squelching
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of squelch

1610–20; variant of quelch in same sense (perhaps blend of quell and quash ); initial s perhaps from squash ¹

Explanation

When you squelch something, you're putting an end to it. You can squelch an idea or a rebellion. This word has several meanings, but it's usually a verb for crushing things. A mean remark could squelch your self-confidence, and a powerful military could squelch an invading country. Squelching can also mean to make a squelch-like sucking sound — or to slop, slosh, splash, and squish through the mud. There's also a type of electric circuit that cuts off when the signal is weak: that's a squelch circuit, which squelches the connection.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

squelch squelches squelched squelching

The disconnect shows how Tehran has managed to squelch traffic through the crucial energy chokepoint with relatively little military force, only a handful of drone and missile attacks on ships.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 12, 2026

It’s an agreeably heartfelt reminder that children are powered by an imaginative daring and purity of bonding we’d be wise to nurture, not squelch, if we’re going to learn how to inhabit the increasingly uninhabitable.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 23, 2026

In fact, both Black activists and congressional champions of Reconstruction understood that race still mattered, and that made it critical to give Congress broad powers to squelch efforts to suppress or cancel out Black votes.

From Slate ● Oct. 7, 2025

The case is a headache that CEO Shari Redstone does not need as she pursues a high-stakes sale of the company, a deal the FCC itself could squelch.

From Salon ● Mar. 4, 2025

My socks squelch with each step in my new boots, earning a string of cringes.

From "Kwame Crashes the Underworld" by Craig Kofi Farmer

What crushes confidence is uncertainty that squelches investment.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 12, 2026

Antiretroviral treatment squelches HIV reproduction but sensitive tests show that even with the most effective treatments, small populations of white blood cells studded with the CD4 receptor harbor HIV’s DNA in a latent state.

From Science Magazine ● Aug. 3, 2022

That not only imperils his $2.183 million salary for 2021, but it also squelches trade talks for the fourth-year pro from Penn State.

From Seattle Times ● May 14, 2021

The American Civil Liberties Union, which represented the company and published the request Tuesday, says the case shows authorities demand more customer information than is authorized by law and unconstitutionally squelches public objections.

From US News ● Oct. 4, 2016

“I guess the return of the jewels squelches the Macdougal theory,” he remarked.

From The Black Box by E. Phillips (Edward Phillips) Oppenheim

In the past week, the council squelched progress on a deal to gradually open Hormuz.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 17, 2026

So far, the higher rates have softened but not squelched buyer demand in the spring home-buying season, he noted.

From MarketWatch ● Mar. 26, 2026

Had there been better information, a more bounded threat, the arms race of the missile age might have been squelched before it took off.

From Slate ● Feb. 3, 2026

Danger hangs in the air like the clouds over the fields where Sammie works barefoot, mud squelched between his toes.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 17, 2025

I squelched along as best I could, making slow progress.

From "The Bridge Home" by Padma Venkatraman

The spikier “Tongue” is the other rocker, whose arrangement is a blend of syncopated drum breaks, squelching keyboards and drones built on feedback and distortion.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 13, 2026

To her, the shift in messaging, and the squelching of this routine announcement, is alarming.

From Salon ● Mar. 29, 2025

A federal appeals court largely sided with the St. Tammany Parish Sheriff’s Office on many of the allegations, squelching much of the lawsuit over the deputies’ use of force.

From Seattle Times ● May 9, 2024

“I’m driving a 300-mile loop today,” she says, squelching tears.

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 8, 2024

With Chloe sitting there, I didn’t want to chew, because I thought the squelching would be too loud.

From "Landscape with Invisible Hand" by M.T. Anderson

Related Words

• crush
• extinguish
• muffle
• oppress
• repress
• smother
• squash
• stifle
• thwart