squire
Americannoun
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squires
plural
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(in England) a country gentleman, especially the chief landed proprietor in a district.
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(in the Middle Ages) a young man of noble birth who as an aspirant to knighthood served a knight.
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a personal attendant, as of a person of rank.
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a man who accompanies or escorts a woman.
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a title applied to a justice of the peace, local judge, or other local dignitary of a rural district or small town.
verb (used with object)
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squires,
present (3rd person singular)
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squired,
past participle, past
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squiring
present participle
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to attend as, or in the manner of, a squire.
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to escort (a woman), as to a dance or social gathering.
noun
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a country gentleman in England, esp the main landowner in a rural community
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feudal history a young man of noble birth, who attended upon a knight
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rare a man who courts or escorts a woman
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informal a term of address used by one man to another, esp, unless ironic, to a member of a higher social class
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an immature snapper See snapper
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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squiresimple
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squiressimple
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have squiredperfect
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has squiredperfect
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am squiringprogressive
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are squiringprogressive
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is squiringprogressive
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have been squiringperfect progressive
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has been squiringperfect progressive
Past
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squiredsimple
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had squiredperfect
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was squiringprogressive
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were squiringprogressive
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had been squiringperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of squire
1250–1300; Middle English squier; aphetic variant of esquire
Explanation
Squire is a British term for a country landowner or gentleman. You can use squire to describe a refined and powerful man, or as a verb meaning to escort: when the queen visited, the police chief squired her around town. You'll encounter squires in 19th-century English novels, and you'll need to understand who they are if you're going to get the subtle class distinctions that often drive the plots of these novels. During feudal times squires were young men who assisted knights. For their loyalty, they were given land, making them and their descendants rich and powerful. If you had land, you could live off the rent your tenant farmers paid, and you’d be free to be a gentleman.
Vocabulary lists containing squire
Medieval Europe - Introductory
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Tolkien Reading Day, List 11
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The Odyssey
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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.
See Examples For:
Buffered by wealth and social position, Darwin was able to reconcile, like few of his peers, the secluded life of a country squire with the exacting demands of scientific work.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 2, 2026
They repeat history when the child becomes the wanna-be knight’s squire, and together they prepare for a match that Dunk is wholly unsuited to win.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 16, 2026
It follows the adventures of Ser Duncan the Tall, and his squire, Egg.
From BBC ● Dec. 28, 2025
Lorré, 28, is known as an ‘ecuyères’ — the French word for squire or horse rider, and has a vast knowledge of the royal stables’ history.
From Seattle Times ● Apr. 29, 2024
He watched Caswell’s weakling son named a page, a squire, and finally a knight.
From "A Dance with Dragons" by George R. R. Martin
The unit will include knights, squires, stable hands and show cast members, including queens, Lord Cedric the lord chancellor, the lord marshal and trumpet players.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 10, 2022
McCurdie said new hires, referred to as squires, are making near minimum wage.
From Seattle Times ● Jul. 31, 2022
The sort of — low gentry squires, vicar's sons, this sort of thing.
From Salon ● Oct. 7, 2019
The woman defended her choice, claiming her family is descended from a long line of “both squires and senators.”
From Fox News ● Dec. 9, 2018
He climbed carefully and found himself alone on the battlements of the inner wall, well away from the squires and their snowmen.
From "A Dance with Dragons" by George R. R. Martin
My 14-year-old son recently sent me a photo of our dog, Sugaree, taken last December as she was squired about town.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 22, 2025
He came to California in 1926 and squired around silent movie actress Aileen Pringle.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 11, 2023
Movie stars James Garner and Steve McQueen also squired her, according to Taylor.
From Washington Post ● Mar. 3, 2023
He and his insular team in the presidency, squired by his attentive communications director Fahrettin Altun, have been rolling out prepared speeches, which he delivers live on national television with the aid of a teleprompter.
From Seattle Times ● Dec. 10, 2021
"I am. I was bom on the Doroish Marches, Your Grace. As a boy I squired for a knight of Lord Swann's household."
From "A Clash of Kings" by George R.R. Martin
James, lured to Hollywood to appear in films, began squiring noted pinup and star of movie musicals Betty Grable, who became his second wife.
From Washington Post ● Nov. 26, 2022
Treating this kind of team-wide malaise doesn’t necessarily mean culling the entire team, or even squiring off its oldest players with a testimonial and a watch.
From Slate ● Aug. 2, 2021
So is squiring musician Grimes to the Met Gala.
From The Verge ● May 8, 2021
Riskin had a different set of romantic problems - if squiring Loretta Young and other actresses to nightclubs and turning down Carole Lombard’s marriage proposal could be called problems.
From Washington Times ● Feb. 27, 2019
That evening—a week ago, when he was squiring me home from the concert.
From Quality Street A Comedy by J. M. (James Matthew) Barrie
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.
