Adjacent Words

Squash definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

SQUASH, v.t. [L.] To crush; to beat or press into pulp or a flat mass.
SQUASH, n.
1. Someting soft an deasily crushed.
2. [Gr.] A plant of the genus Cucurbita, and its fruit; a culinary vegetable.
3. Something unripe or soft; in contempt.
This squash, this gentleman.
4. A sudden fall of a heavy soft body.
5. A shock of soft bodies.
My fall was stoppd by a terrible squash. [Vulgar.]

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: any of numerous annual trailing plants of the genus Cucurbita grown for their fleshy edible fruits [syn: squash, squash vine]
2: edible fruit of a squash plant; eaten as a vegetable
3: a game played in an enclosed court by two or four players who strike the ball with long-handled rackets [syn: squash, squash racquets, squash rackets] v
1: to compress with violence, out of natural shape or condition; "crush an aluminum can"; "squeeze a lemon" [syn: squash, crush, squelch, mash, squeeze]

Merriam Webster's

I. verb Etymology: alteration of Middle English squachen to crush, annul, from Anglo-French esquacher, from Old French es- ex- + quachier to hide from view, from Vulgar Latin *coacticare to press together — more at cache Date: 1565 transitive verb 1. to press or beat into a pulp or a flat mass ; crush 2. put down, suppress <squash a revolt> intransitive verb 1. to flatten out under pressure or impact 2. to proceed with a splashing or squelching sound <squash through the mud> 3. squeeze, press • squasher noun II. noun Date: 1590 1. obsolete something soft and easily crushed; specifically an unripe pod of peas 2. the sudden fall of a heavy soft body or the sound of such a fall 3. squelch 1 4. a crushed mass 5. British sweetened citrus fruit juice often served with added soda water 6. a singles or doubles game played in a 4-wall court with a long-handled racket and a rubber ball that can be hit off any number of walls III. adverb Date: 1766 with a squash or a squashing sound IV. noun (plural squashes or squash) Etymology: by shortening & alteration from earlier isquoutersquash, from Narragansett askútasquash Date: 1634 any of various fruits of plants (genus Cucurbita) of the gourd family widely cultivated as vegetables; also a plant and especially a vine that bears squashes — compare summer squash, winter squash

Oxford Reference Dictionary

1. v. & n. --v. 1 tr. crush or squeeze flat or into pulp. 2 intr. (often foll. by into) make one's way by squeezing. 3 tr. pack tight, crowd. 4 tr. a silence (a person) with a crushing retort etc. b dismiss (a proposal etc.). c quash (a rebellion). --n. 1 a crowd; a crowded assembly. 2 a sound of or as of something being squashed, or of a soft body falling. 3 Brit. a concentrated drink made of crushed fruit etc., diluted with water. 4 (in full squash rackets) a game played with rackets and a small fairly soft ball against the walls of a closed court. 5 a squashed thing or mass. Phrases and idioms: squash tennis US a game similar to squash, played with a lawn-tennis ball. Derivatives: squashy adj. (squashier, squashiest). squashily adv. squashiness n. Etymology: alt. of QUASH 2. n. (pl. same or squashes) 1 any of various trailing plants of the genus Cucurbita, esp. C. maxima, C. moschata, and C. pepo, having pumpkin-like fruits. 2 the fruit of these cooked and eaten as a vegetable. Etymology: obs. (i)squoutersquash f. Narraganset asquutasquash f. asq uncooked + squash green

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Squash Squash, n. A game much like rackets, played in a walled court with soft rubber balls and bats like tennis rackets.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Squash Squash, n. 1. Something soft and easily crushed; especially, an unripe pod of pease. Not yet old enough for a man, nor young enough for a boy; as a squash is before 't is a peascod. --Shak. 2. Hence, something unripe or soft; -- used in contempt. ``This squash, this gentleman.'' --Shak. 3. A sudden fall of a heavy, soft body; also, a shock of soft bodies. --Arbuthnot. My fall was stopped by a terrible squash. --Swift.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Squash Squash, n. [Cf. Musquash.] (Zo["o]l.) An American animal allied to the weasel. [Obs.] --Goldsmith.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Squash Squash, n. [Massachusetts Indian asq, pl. asquash, raw, green, immaturate, applied to fruit and vegetables which were used when green, or without cooking; askutasquash vine apple.] (Bot.) A plant and its fruit of the genus Cucurbita, or gourd kind. Note: The species are much confused. The long-neck squash is called Cucurbita verrucosa, the Barbary or China squash, C. moschata, and the great winter squash, C. maxima, but the distinctions are not clear. Squash beetle (Zo["o]l.), a small American beetle (Diabrotica, or Galeruca vittata) which is often abundant and very injurious to the leaves of squash, cucumber, etc. It is striped with yellow and black. The name is applied also to other allied species. Squash bug (Zo["o]l.), a large black American hemipterous insect (Coreus, or Anasa, tristis) injurious to squash vines.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Squash Squash, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Squashed; p. pr. & vb. n. Squashing.] [OE. squashen, OF. escachier, esquachier, to squash, to crush, F. ['e]cacher, perhaps from (assumed) LL. excoacticare, fr. L. ex + coactare to constrain, from cogere, coactum, to compel. Cf. Cogent, Squat, v. i.] To beat or press into pulp or a flat mass; to crush.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(squashes, squashing, squashed) 1. If someone or something is squashed, they are pressed or crushed with such force that they become injured or lose their shape. Robert was lucky to escape with just a broken foot after being squashed against a fence by a car... Whole neighbourhoods have been squashed flat by shelling... She made clay models and squashed them flat again. VERB: be V-ed prep, be V-ed adj, V n adj 2. If people or things are squashed into a place, they are put or pushed into a place where there is not enough room for them to be. The stage is squashed into a small corner of the field. = cram ADJ: v-link ADJ into n 3. If you say that getting a number of people into a small space is a squash, you mean that it is only just possible for them all to get into it. (INFORMAL) It all looked a bit of a squash as they squeezed inside the small hatchback. = squeeze N-SING: a N 4. If you squash something that is causing you trouble, you put a stop to it, often by force. The troops would stay in position to squash the first murmur of trouble. VERB: V n 5. Squash is a game in which two players hit a small rubber ball against the walls of a court using rackets. N-UNCOUNT 6. Squash is a drink made from fruit juice, sugar, and water. Squash is sold in bottles in a concentrated form to which you add water. (BRIT) ...a glass of orange squash. = cordial N-MASS 7. A squash is one of a family of vegetables that have thick skin and soft or firm flesh inside. N-VAR

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

v. a. Crush, mash.

Moby Thesaurus

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