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squash.

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

6 characters1 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

noun/skwɒʃ/UK/skwɔʃ/US/skwɑʃ/cot-caught-merger/skwɔɹʃ/
  1. A sport played in a walled court with a soft rubber ball and bats like tennis racquets.

    uncountable
    She plays squash every Saturday.
  2. A non-alcoholic drink made from a fruit-based concentrate diluted with water.

    countable · uncountable
    When I'm thirsty I drink squash; it tastes much nicer than plain water.
  3. A place or a situation where people have limited space to move.

    countable · uncountable
    It's a bit of a squash in this small room.
  4. A preparation made by placing material on a slide (flat, rectangular piece of glass), covering it and applying pressure.

    countable · uncountable
  5. Something soft and easily crushed; especially, an unripe pod of peas.

    countable · obsolete
  6. Something unripe or soft.

    countable · derogatory · obsolete
  7. A sudden fall of a heavy, soft body; also, a shock of soft bodies.

    countable · obsolete
  8. An extremely one-sided, usually short, match.

    countable · slang · uncountable
Where this word comes from

From Middle English squachen, squatchen, from Old French esquacher, escachier, from Vulgar Latin *excoāctiāre, from Latin ex + coāctāre. Probably influenced by Middle English quashen, quassen, from Old French esquasser, escasser (“to crush, shatter, destroy, break”), from Vulgar Latin *exquassare, from Latin ex- + quassare (“to shatter”) (see quash).

verb/skwɒʃ/UK/skwɔʃ/US/skwɑʃ/cot-caught-merger/skwɔɹʃ/
  1. To beat or press into pulp or a flat mass; to crush.

    transitive
  2. To compress or restrict (oneself) into a small space; to squeeze.

    intransitive · transitive
    Somehow, she squashed all her books into her backpack, which was now too heavy to carry.
    We all managed to squash into Mum's tiny car.
  3. To suppress; to force into submission.

    transitive
Where this word comes from

From Middle English squachen, squatchen, from Old French esquacher, escachier, from Vulgar Latin *excoāctiāre, from Latin ex + coāctāre. Probably influenced by Middle English quashen, quassen, from Old French esquasser, escasser (“to crush, shatter, destroy, break”), from Vulgar Latin *exquassare, from Latin ex- + quassare (“to shatter”) (see quash).

intj/skwɒʃ/UK/skwɔʃ/US/skwɑʃ/cot-caught-merger/skwɔɹʃ/
  1. The sound of something relatively heavy splashing or squelching into water.

    obsolete
Where this word comes from

From Middle English squachen, squatchen, from Old French esquacher, escachier, from Vulgar Latin *excoāctiāre, from Latin ex + coāctāre. Probably influenced by Middle English quashen, quassen, from Old French esquasser, escasser (“to crush, shatter, destroy, break”), from Vulgar Latin *exquassare, from Latin ex- + quassare (“to shatter”) (see quash).

noun/skwɒʃ/UK/skwɔʃ/US/skwɑʃ/cot-caught-merger/skwɔɹʃ/
  1. A plant and its fruit of any of a few species of the genus Cucurbita, or gourd kind. Cucurbita maxima, including hubbard squash, great winter squash, buttercup squash, and some varieties of pumpkins.

    countable · uncountable
  2. A plant and its fruit of any of a few species of the genus Cucurbita, or gourd kind. Cucurbita argyrosperma (syn. Cucurbita mixta), cushaw squash.

    countable · uncountable
  3. A plant and its fruit of any of a few species of the genus Cucurbita, or gourd kind. Cucurbita moschata, butternut squash, Barbary squash, China squash.

    countable · uncountable
  4. A plant and its fruit of any of a few species of the genus Cucurbita, or gourd kind. Cucurbita pepo, most pumpkins, acorn squash, summer squash, zucchini.

    countable · uncountable
  5. Any other similar-looking plant of other genera.

    countable · uncountable
  6. Any other similar-looking plant of other genera. Lagenaria siceraria (syn. Cucurbita verrucosa), calabash, long-neck squash.

    countable · uncountable
  7. The edible or decorative fruit of these plants, or this fruit prepared as a dish.

    countable · uncountable
    We ate squash and green beans.
Where this word comes from

Shortening of Narragansett askutasquash (“[a vegetable] eaten green (or raw)”), from askut (“green, raw”) + asquash (“eaten”).

noun/skwɒʃ/UK/skwɔʃ/US/skwɑʃ/cot-caught-merger/skwɔɹʃ/
  1. Muskrat.

    countable · obsolete
Where this word comes from

Clipping of musquash.

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Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.