squash
1 (skwŏsh, skwôsh)
[From alteration of Narragansett askútasquash.]
noun
- Any of various tendril-bearing plants of the genus Cucurbita, having fleshy edible fruit with a leathery rind and unisexual flowers.
- The fruit of any of these plants, eaten as a vegetable.
squash
2 (skwŏsh, skwôsh)
[Middle English squachen, from Old French esquasser, from Vulgar Latin* exquassāre, Latin ex-, intensive pref.; see ex–, + Latin quassāre, to shatter frequentative of quatere, to shake.]
verb: squashed, squash·ing, squash·es.
transitive verb
- To beat, squeeze, or press into a pulp or a flattened mass; crush. See synonyms at crush
- To put down or suppress; quash: squash a revolt.
- To silence or fluster, as with crushing words: squash a heckler.
intransitive verb
- To become crushed, flattened, or pulpy, as by pressure or impact.
- To move with a splashing or sucking sound, as when walking through boggy ground.
noun
- The act or sound of squashing.
- The fact or condition of being squashed.
- A crushed or crowded mass: a squash of people.
- Sports A racket game played in a closed walled court with a rubber ball.
- Chiefly British A citrus-based soft drink.
adverb
- With a squashing sound.
derivatives
- squash́er
- noun
