squash

plural squashes

1. uncountableA sport played in a walled court with a soft rubber ball and bats like tennis racquets.

   She plays squash every Saturday.

   2 more examples

   Ivor had acquired more than a mile of fishing rights with the house; he was not at all a good fisherman, but one must do something; one generally, however, banged a ball with a squash-racket against a wall.

   1922, Michael Arlen, “3/19/2”, in “Piracy”: A Romantic Chronicle of These Days

   The bat, as a racquet used to be called, is the chief tool of the squash tradesman.

   2007, James Zug, Squash: A History of the Game, Scribner, →ISBN, page 1

2. countableuncountableA non-alcoholic drink made from a fruit-based concentrate diluted with water.

   When I'm thirsty I drink squash; it tastes much nicer than plain water.

   1 more example

   Sure. I pour hot squash all over myself and we all have a good chuckle. Everyone except Muggins here.

   2006 Feb. 17, Graham Linehan, The IT Crowd, Season 1, Episode 4

   Synonyms: cordial, diluting juice, water juice

3. countableuncountableA place or a situation where people have limited space to move.

   It's a bit of a squash in this small room.

4. countableuncountablebiologyA preparation made by placing material on a slide (flat, rectangular piece of glass), covering it and applying pressure.

   Synonyms: smear

5. countableobsoleteSomething soft and easily crushed; especially, an unripe pod of peas.
6. countablederogatoryobsoleteSomething unripe or soft.
7. countableobsoleteA sudden fall of a heavy, soft body; also, a shock of soft bodies.
8. countableslanguncountablegovernmentAn extremely one-sided, usually short, match.

   It was one of the most shocking WWE title matches ever witnessed, and effectively a 20-minute squash match as Brock Lesnar "conquered" his opponent.

   Orr, James (18 August 2014), “WWE SummerSlam 2014: How Twitter reacted to John Cena vs Brock Lesnar”, in (Please provide the book title or journal name), The Independent, retrieved 30 Jul 2015

present singular third person squashes · participle present squashing · participle past squashed · past squashed

1. transitiveTo beat or press into pulp or a flat mass; to crush.
2. intransitivetransitiveTo compress or restrict (oneself) into a small space; to squeeze.

   We all managed to squash into Mum's tiny car.

   1 more example

   Somehow, she squashed all her books into her backpack, which was now too heavy to carry.

   Synonyms: condense

3. transitiveTo suppress; to force into submission.

   A somewhat popular myth about the Whiskey Rebellion is that Washington personally led the troops into western Pennsylvania and squashed the rebellion.

   2006, Chris Rodda, Liars for Jesus, →ISBN, page 390

1. obsoleteThe sound of something relatively heavy splashing or squelching into water.

   […] to catch all the rain […]; my boots went squash, squash, as I turned on to the high road, […]

   1881, Frederick Lancelot H. Morrice, The Nightless North: A Walk Across Lapland, page 74

   2 more examples

   […] rain, too, had lately fallen, and had decidedly not evaporated, since, at every step, I went squash! squash! up to the tops of my boots, and many times very extent, stretching to the eastward, […]

   1848, The Lotus, page 40

   1883, May 5 […] The words had only left his mouth when his feet slipped from under him, and with a dull, sickening thud, he went squash! into the water, waist-deep. We made our way to bed in a silence that was painful.

   2001, Peter Cozzens, Eyewitnesses to the Indian Wars, 1865-1890: The Struggle for Apacheria. volume one, Stackpole Books, →ISBN, page 355

plural squashes

1. A plant and its fruit of any of a few species of the genus Cucurbita, or gourd kind.
   1. countableuncountablebiologyCucurbita maxima, including hubbard squash, great winter squash, buttercup squash, and some varieties of pumpkins.
   2. countableuncountablebiologyCucurbita argyrosperma (syn. Cucurbita mixta), cushaw squash.
   3. countableuncountablebiologyCucurbita moschata, butternut squash, Barbary squash, China squash.
   4. countableuncountablebiologyCucurbita pepo, most pumpkins, acorn squash, summer squash, zucchini.
2. countableuncountablebiologyAny other similar-looking plant of other genera.
   1. countableuncountablebiologyLagenaria siceraria (syn. Cucurbita verrucosa), calabash, long-neck squash.
3. countableuncountablecookingThe edible or decorative fruit of these plants, or this fruit prepared as a dish.

   We ate squash and green beans.

plural squashes

1. countableobsoleteMuskrat.

   The squash is a four-footed beast, bigger than a cat.

   1705, William Dampier, A Supplement of the Voyage Round the World

1. A surname