squeeze
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /skwiːz/
rhymes: -iːz
Forms: form: squeezes
Etymology: From earlier squize, squise (whence also dialectal English squizzen and squeege), first attested around 1600, further origin uncertain; probably an alteration of quease (which is attested since 1550), from Middle English queisen (“to squeeze”), from Old English cwȳsan (“to crush, squeeze”), itself also of unknown origin, perhaps imitative (compare Swedish qväsa, kväsa (“to squeeze, bruise, crush; quell”), Dutch kwetsen (“to injure, hurt”), German quetschen (“to squeeze”)). Or, a blend of obsolete squiss (“to squeeze”) (whence also squash and squish) with quease. Compare also French esquicher from Old Occitan esquichar (“to press, squeeze”).
The slang expression "to put the squeeze on (someone or something)", meaning "to exert influence", is from 1711. The baseball term "squeeze play" is first recorded 1905. "Main squeeze" ("most important person") is attested from 1896, the specific meaning "one's sweetheart, lover" is attested in 1970s.
The nonstandard strong forms squoze and squozen, attested dialectally since at least the mid-19th century, are by analogy with freeze.
Senses: examples: text: to give something a squeeze
translation: to squeeze something
english: to squeeze something
text: Dip your sponge into the water, tehn turn it over and dip it again. That gets both sides wet. Now give it a squeeze to get most of the water out—but not all of it! You'll get the feel of how much water you need in your sponge as you practice with the clay.
ref: 2016 October 10, Ann Pelo, The Language of Art: Inquiry-Based Studio Practices in Early Childhood Settings, Redleaf Press, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 98:
glosses: An instance of squeezing.
glosses: A close or tight fit.
examples: text: I'm in a tight squeeze right now when it comes to my free time.
text: There is a growing recognition that, as the population ages and the squeeze on NHS resources continues, better ways of supporting older people outside hospital need to be developed.
ref: 2016 June 30, Kate Murray, “How occupational therapists help keep older people out of hospital”, in The Guardian:
glosses: A difficult position.
examples: text: a gentle squeeze on the arm
glosses: A hug or other affectionate grasp.
examples: text: I want to be your main squeeze.
text: “No, Mona. Her new squeeze is one of Wage's boys.”
ref: 1984, William Gibson, Neuromancer (Sprawl; book 1), New York, N.Y.: Ace Books, →ISBN, page 9:
text: He spent nights cruising queer bars near the pad, saw Wiltsie at the dives, but always in the company of his squeeze, a guy he called 'Duane.'
ref: 1988, James Ellroy, Dudley Smith Trio: The Big Nowhere, LA Confidential, White Jazz, Random House, →ISBN, page 459:
text: His young squeeze had just backed out and had not seen the assault on her “sugar daddy” when it happened!
ref: 2012, J. Lamar, Tip Tap Toe, Xlibris Corporation, →ISBN, page 141:
text: But even considering that, he might have been a bit more restrained if he hadn't run into his former sexy squeeze, Penny Atieno.
ref: 2014, N. Lombardi Jr., Journey Towards a Falling Sun, John Hunt Publishing, →ISBN:
text: He didn't smile. "Del. I have two girlfriends already. If I wanted a third—"
ref: 2023 September 18, HarryBlank, “Hidden Depths”, in SCP Foundation, archived from the original on 25 May 2024:
glosses: A romantic partner.
glosses: An illicit alcoholic drink made by squeezing Sterno through cheesecloth, etc., and mixing the result with fruit juice.
examples: text: The game ended in exciting fashion with a failed squeeze.
topics: ball-games
baseball
games
hobbies
lifestyle
sports
glosses: The act of bunting in an attempt to score a runner from third.
topics: card-games
games
glosses: A play that forces an opponent to discard a card that gives up one or more tricks.
examples: text: It was a tight squeeze, but I got through to the next section of the cave.
text: The most notorious squeezes have names: the Gun Barrel, Jam Crack, the Electric Armpit Crawl, Devil's Pinch.
ref: 2003, Barbara Hurd, “The Squeeze”, in Entering the Stone: On Caves and Feeling through the Dark, Boston, Mass.: Houghton Mifflin Company, →ISBN, page 11:
text: Prior to going back out to Mystery Cave again we spent a lot of time preparing. We made a squeeze box, which is a wooden box the opening of which can be adjusted in size. We could then crawl through the opening and measure to see how tight of a squeeze we could fit through.
ref: 2016, Diego Rodriguez, The Caver: Dig ... But Not to Far, Munich: BookRix, →ISBN:
topics: caving
hobbies
lifestyle
glosses: A traversal of a narrow passage.
examples: text: Nollekens, finding his wife always benefited by these visits, never refused White a squeeze of a patera, or any thing that would answer his purpose; […] White […] had turned his wine-cellars into manufactories for the produce of cast coins, and moderns squeezes from Roman lamps.
ref: 1828, JT Smith, Nollekens and His Times, Century Hutchinson, published 1986, page 65:
glosses: A moulding, cast or other impression of an object, chiefly a design, inscription etc., especially by pressing wet paper onto the surface and peeling off when dry.
topics: business
mining
glosses: The gradual closing of workings by the weight of the overlying strata.
examples: text: Thus was established a powerful Chinese combination, which maintained itself by submitting to a heavy "squeeze" at the hands of the Viceroy and Governor of Canton on the one hand and of the Hoppo on the other.
ref: 1898, Archibald R. Colquhoun, China in Transformation, page 47:
glosses: The situation experienced by a middleman when pressured from both sides, especially financially.
examples: text: If the licence […] was costly, it secured to them uninterrupted and extraordinary pecuniary advantages; but on the other hand it subjected them to 'calls' or 'squeezes' for contributions to public works, […] for the relief of districts suffering from scarcity […] as well as for the often imaginary […] damage caused by the overflowing of the 'Yangtse Keang' or the 'Yellow River.'
ref: 1882, William C. Hunter, The "Fan Kwae" at Canton before treaty days 1825-1844:
text: They were no colonists; their administration was merely a squeeze, and nothing more, I suspect.
ref: 1899 February, Joseph Conrad, “The Heart of Darkness”, in Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine, volume CLXV, number M, New York, N.Y.: The Leonard Scott Publishing Company, […], →OCLC, part I, page 196:
glosses: A bribe, fee, or extortionary price paid to a middleman, especially in China; the practice of requiring such a bribe or fee.
examples: text: "Got his description putty close: Short black 'air, black whiskers, with a crips^([sic]) curl at the hedges; a white choker, tight round his squeeze; dressed in black, and orful hugly," remarked the policeman.
ref: 1860, The London Journal, page 146:
glosses: A person's neck.
Derived terms: coastal squeeze
credit squeeze
juice is worth the squeeze
put the squeeze on
safety squeeze
short squeeze
squeeze ball
squeeze bore
squeeze-bore
squeeze boxer
squeeze chute
squeezedness
squeeze machine
squeeze play
squeeze theorem
squeeze zoom
suicide squeeze
tight squeeze
winkle squeeze
Related terms: squash
squeegee
squish