squash

Interjection

1. The sound of something relatively heavy splashing or squelching into water.
   • […] 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,...
   • […] 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:
   • 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....

Noun biology, botany

1. A plant and its fruit of any of a few species of the genus Cucurbita, or gourd kind.

   1. Cucurbita maxima, including hubbard squash, great winter squash, buttercup squash, and some varieties of pumpkins.

   2. Cucurbita argyrosperma (syn. Cucurbita mixta), cushaw squash.

   3. Cucurbita moschata, butternut squash, Barbary squash, China squash.

   4. Cucurbita pepo, most pumpkins, acorn squash, summer squash, zucchini.

2. Any other similar-looking plant of other genera.

   1. Lagenaria siceraria (syn. Cucurbita verrucosa), calabash, long-neck squash.

3. The edible or decorative fruit of these plants, or this fruit prepared as a dish.
   • We ate squash and green beans.

Noun Entry 3

1. A sport played in a walled court with a soft rubber ball and bats like tennis racquets.
   • She plays squash every Saturday.
   • 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,...
   • 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. A non-alcoholic drink made from a fruit-based concentrate diluted with water or milk.
   • 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
   • When I'm thirsty I drink squash; it tastes much nicer than plain water.

   Synonyms: cordial high juice

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

   Synonyms: smear

5. Something soft and easily crushed; especially, an unripe pod of peas.
6. Something unripe or soft.
7. A sudden fall of a heavy, soft body; also, a shock of soft bodies.
8. An 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...

Noun countable, obsolete

1. Muskrat.
   • The squash is a four-footed beast, bigger than a cat. - 1705, William Dampier, A Supplement of the Voyage Round the World:

Verb

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

Wikipedia

Squash