# squelch
## English
### Etymology

Unknown. Perhaps a blend of squash +‎ quell +‎ quench. Compare also English squolsh, English squoosh.

### Pronunciation

* (UK, General American) IPA: /ˈskwɛlt͡ʃ/
* Rhymes: -ɛltʃ
* Audio (Southern England):(file)

### Verb

squelch (third-person singular simple present squelches, present participle squelching, simple past and past participle squelched)
* (transitive, US) To halt, stop, eliminate, stamp out, or put down, often suddenly or by force.
    Synonym: quash
    Even the king's announcement could not squelch the rumors.
** c. 1615–1616, Thomas Middleton, John Fletcher, “The Nice Valour, or, The Passionate Mad-man”, in Comedies and Tragedies […], London: […] Humphrey Robinson, […], and for Humphrey Moseley […], published 1647, →OCLC, Act V, scene i:Oh 'twas your luck and mine to be squelched.
** 1858–1865, Thomas Carlyle, History of Friedrich II. of Prussia, Called Frederick the Great, volume (please specify |volume=I to VI), London: Chapman and Hall, […], →OCLC:If you deceive us you will be squelched.
** 1982 December 11, Frances Russell, “Economic performance buoys Pawley’s position”, in The Vancouver Sun (The Weekend Sun), Vancouver, BC, page A6:The party’s dominant right wing squelched not only Sherman’s hopes for an early convention, but may have also put the MLA out of contention for the leadership.
** 2021 August 10, Laura Edelson, Damon McCoy, “We Research Misinformation on Facebook. It Just Disabled Our Accounts.”, in The New York Times‎, →ISSN:We believe that Facebook is using privacy as a pretext to squelch research that it considers inconvenient.
* (transitive, radio technology) To suppress the unwanted hiss or static between received transmissions by adjusting a threshold level for signal strength.
* (intransitive, British) To make a sucking, splashing noise as when walking on muddy ground.
    The mud squelched underfoot; it had been raining all night.
** 1960, P[elham] G[renville] Wodehouse, chapter XVI, in Jeeves in the Offing, London: Herbert Jenkins, →OCLC:[After they both fell into the lake.] Reaching the mainland some moments later and squelching back to the house, accompanied by Bobbie, like a couple of Napoleons squelching back from Moscow, [...]
* (intransitive, British) To walk or step through a substance such as mud.
    The mud was thick and sticky underfoot, but we squelched through it nonetheless.

#### Translations

    The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

### Noun

squelch (countable and uncountable, plural squelches)
* (countable) A squelching sound.
* (radio technology) The suppression of the unwanted hiss or static between received transmissions by adjusting the gain of the receiver.
* (countable, dated) A heavy blow or fall.
* (countable, music) A kind of electronic beat or sound mainly used in acid house and related music genres.
** 1998, Colin Larkin, The Virgin Encyclopedia of Dance Music, page 91:Through a process of experimentation the 'acid squelch' sound came forth, which was recorded and passed on to DJ Ron Hardy to play at his Warehouse club.

#### Derived terms

* break squelch
* squelchy