squire
Americannoun
-
squires
plural
-
(in England) a country gentleman, especially the chief landed proprietor in a district.
-
(in the Middle Ages) a young man of noble birth who as an aspirant to knighthood served a knight.
-
a personal attendant, as of a person of rank.
-
a man who accompanies or escorts a woman.
-
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)
-
squires,
present (3rd person singular)
-
squired,
past participle, past
-
squiring
present participle
-
to attend as, or in the manner of, a squire.
-
to escort (a woman), as to a dance or social gathering.
noun
-
a country gentleman in England, esp the main landowner in a rural community
-
feudal history a young man of noble birth, who attended upon a knight
-
rare a man who courts or escorts a woman
-
informal a term of address used by one man to another, esp, unless ironic, to a member of a higher social class
-
an immature snapper See snapper
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
squiresimple
-
squiressimple
-
have squiredperfect
-
has squiredperfect
-
am squiringprogressive
-
are squiringprogressive
-
is squiringprogressive
-
have been squiringperfect progressive
-
has been squiringperfect progressive
Past
-
squiredsimple
-
had squiredperfect
-
was squiringprogressive
-
were squiringprogressive
-
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
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
Tolkien Reading Day, List 11
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
The Odyssey
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
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
But Dunk declines, offering to take Egg as his squire only if the boy keeps roaming with him.
From Salon ● Feb. 23, 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
In Dome Quentyn Martell had been a prince, in Volantis a merchant’s man, but on the shores of Slaver’s Bay he was only Frog, squire to the big bald Domish knight the sellswords called Greenguts.
From "A Dance with Dragons" by George R. R. Martin
The roughly 50-person bargaining unit includes knights, squires, stable hands and show cast members, including trumpet players and actors playing the queen, lord chancellor, lord marshal and Lord Cedric.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 21, 2023
McCurdie said new hires, referred to as squires, are making near minimum wage.
From Seattle Times ● Jul. 31, 2022
There was a similar effort in 2006, where complaints largely centered around a lack of job security and fears that squires were becoming knights too quickly.
From New York Times ● Jul. 15, 2022
The sort of — low gentry squires, vicar's sons, this sort of thing.
From Salon ● Oct. 7, 2019
These young men, like pages or squires, mother him with great tenderness and concentration and with a sort of protective respect They always address him by his title, not by Ids name.
From "The Once and Future King" by T. H. White
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
Charles squired her to the opening for several years, inheriting a role long played by Philip.
From New York Times ● May 9, 2022
"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
Tonight, Matt’s working in the pit of an ill-fated musical adaptation of “Harold and Maude,” and Dick is squiring the actress Dolores Gray, one of many renowned figures who make persuasive appearances throughout the novel.
From Washington Post ● Feb. 6, 2023
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
But they made up that quarrel ages ago, and he was over there shooting in September and squiring her all over the county.
From More about Pixie by William H. C. Groome
Random Word
Spin the wheel and learn a new word!
Get a wordDefinitions 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.
