Etymology 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).
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, Michael Arlen, “3/19/2”, in “Piracy”: A Romantic Chronicle of These Days:
1 more example
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.
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.
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
Biology, Natural sciences A preparation made by placing material on a slide (flat, rectangular piece of glass), covering it and applying pressure.
5
Obsolete Something soft and easily crushed; especially, an unripe pod of peas.
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
Etymology 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).
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:
Etymology 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).
1
Obsolete 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, page 40:
[…] 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:
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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:
squash
noun
Etymology Shortening of Narragansett askutasquash (“[a vegetable] eaten green (or raw)”), from askut (“green, raw”) + asquash (“eaten”).