Dictionary

squish en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /skwəʃ/ (New-Zealand)
• audio North Carolina
• (California) audio
• /skwɪʃ/ (Australia, Canada, General-American, Received-Pronunciation)

Etymology

Apparently an alteration of squash, influenced by obsolete squiss (“to squeeze”). Cognate with Scots squische, squies (“to crush, squeeze”). Compare also French esquicher, from Old Occitan esquichar (“to squeeze, squish”). See also squeeze and squelch. The noun is derived from the verb. The linguistic noun sense 4 was coined in 1972 by the American poet and linguist John R. Ross (1938–2025): see the quotation. Noun sense 5 (“a non-romantic and generally non-sexual infatuation”) was formed by analogy with crush and possibly smash, both of which have senses as types of compression as well as types of attraction. It was possibly first attested in 1999 (see the quotation) and then later coined or recoined in 2007 by the user Raisin on the forums of the Asexual Visibility and Education Network as "a milder synonym for the word 'crush'". The term was also used with a similar meaning in a 1997 episode of the TV show Aaahh!!! Real Monsters, though the 2007 coining or recoining was apparently independent.

Meanings

1. (countable, informal) The sound or action of something, especially something moist, being squeezed or crushed.
   • Alex reached the bottom and Grant heard a squish as she landed in the mud on the bottom of the river. 2007, Robin Parrish, chapter 38, in Fearless (The Dominion Trilogy; 2), Minneapolis, Minn.: Bethany House Publishers, →ISBN, page 207:
2. (countable, derogatory, informal) A political moderate; a moderate on a specific issue.
   • Some conservatives think that in the long run, the party [i.e., the Republican Party] will be better off without squishes like [Arlen] Specter muddling the coherence of its brand; […] 2009 May 7, Michael Grunwald, “One Year Ago: The Republicans in Distress”, in Time, volume 173, numbers 17–26, New York, N.Y.: Time Inc., →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 16 Jul 2024, page 24, column 2:
   • He's a squish on abortion.
   • The cadre of squishes in this party may disgree with me.
   • “Josh Mandel: Another failed career politician squish,” a new ad from a super PAC supporting Mr. [JD] Vance blared on Ohio television sets on Friday, calling Mr. Mandel, who is mounting his third Senate run, a “two-time loser” and “a moderate for the moderates.” 2022 April 30, Jonathan Weisman, Trip Gabriel, “Once Soft-Spoken, Ohio Conservatives Embrace the Bombast”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 30 Apr 2022:
3. (attributive, informal, often, uncountable) An effect in internal combustion engines which creates sudden turbulence of the air–fuel mixture as the piston approaches top dead center.
   • In new cars, the uneven combustion, and hence the knock, stems from a reduction in the "squish" area—a tiny 1-millimeter-wide space between the top of the piston and the flat edge of the combustion chamber. In their drive to improve performance and reduce emissions, auto makers have been reducing the squish in an effort to improve the mixing of gasoline and air. 1994 September 25, Agis Salpukas, “Driving Smart: A Chattering Engine May Tell a Dirty Secret”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 29 Aug 2014:
   • The movement of the jet in the type of cylinder used by Mr. [Harry] Ricardo was an interesting problem. The fuel was shot down quite close to the periphery of the cylindrical surface and yet managed to reach about 80 per cent of the air. He felt doubtful about the existence of a free vortex , and the effect of a pressure difference, due to it, upon the jet. He thought that the most probable path for the movement of the fuel was similar to that shown in Fig. 21, p. 148, and that the satisfactory mixing was brought about largely by the “squish.” 1934, the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Proceedings, volume 128, London: […] [T]he Institution, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 155:
   • The turning point was the acquisition, in 1958, of a used Morgan Plus 4, registered TOK 258, for £650. Teaching himself the theory and practice of camshaft profiles, combustion chamber design and "squish" area, Chris gradually increased the power output of the Morgan's humble two-litre Triumph TR2 engine (originally designed for the Ferguson tractor) from 95bhp to 156bhp. 2011 September 18, Martin Buckley, “Chris Lawrence obituary”, in Alan Rusbridger, editor, The Guardian, London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 01 Oct 2013:
   • According to this correlation, engine N is the worst, having a requirement about 5 numbers above the mean at low speeds. The only reason which can be suggested for this high requirement is that engine N had a very small “squish” area compared with some of the other engines with a similar type of combustion chamber. Since squish occurs late in the compression stroke, it is not likely to affect maximum-power spark timing. 1951, the Institution of Mechanical Engineers incorporating the Institute of Automobile Engineers, Automobile Division, Proceedings, London: […] [T]he Institution, →OCLC, page 103, column 2:
4. (countable, informal) A continuum or progression between categories that are normally considered discrete.
   • To show that a squish exists, I will cite a number of grammatical processes which work most for verbs, less for adjectives, and least for nouns. That is, to pass from left to right along the squish of (1) is to move in the direction of syntactic inertness, and to move away from syntactic freedom and volatility. 1972 April 14–16, John Robert Ross, “The Category Squish: Endstation Hauptwort”, in Papers from the Eighth Regional Meeting, Chicago Linguistic Society, […], Chicago, Ill.: Chicago Linguistic Society, →OCLC, page 317:
   • Some pseudo-titles will gradually become so accepted that they pass into the realm of fully accepted titles. I would expect expect that within five years Prime Minister will be in such a position in New Zealand, no more unusual than President without a determiner. Other ministerial titles may eventually follow suit. Thus, common count nouns will move into the title category, or at towards the titleness end of the squish. 1988 winter, Allan Bell, “The British Base and the American Connection in New Zealand Media English”, in American Speech, volume 63, number 4, Durham, N.C.: American Speech, →DOI, →ISSN, →OCLC, pages 341–342:
   • The original question remains: Why can so-called MCP [main clause phenomena] occur in some subordinate clauses? However, the data have forced us to alter this question to: Why do some MCP embed in lots of subordinate clauses, and some in few or none? And why do some subordinate clause types embed more MCP than others? This formulation suggests that we have a gradience or squish depending on two hierarchies. 1976, Georgia M. Green, “Main Clause Phenomena in Subordinate Clauses”, in Language […], volume 52, Baltimore, Md.: […] Linguistic Society of America at the Waverly Press […], →DOI, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 392:
5. (countable, informal, slang) A non-romantic and generally non-sexual infatuation with somebody one is not dating, or the object of that infatuation; a platonic crush.
   • Heck, there is so _little_ love in this world, you really ought not to disparage it when you find it. So she's got a squish on you. I think it's %sweet%, personally. 1999 November 21, [T.] <tek3@cx159572-a.elcjn1.sdca.home.com>, “A Transgendered Revolution!”, in soc.support.transgendered (Usenet), archived from the original on 29 Jul 2026:
   • After feeling these concerns, I was happy to learn about squishes and queerplatonic partners (also known as zucchinis, for some reason unclear to me). 2013 September 1, “The 'A' in LGBT”, in Counterpoint […], volume 35, number 1, Cambridge, Mass.: Advocates of Rational Discourse, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 8:
   • I am making the best of the situation because I want my squish to be happy, and I'd rather have a friendship with him than nothing at all. 2014, Peter Toohey, Jealousy, New Haven, Conn.; London: Yale University Press, →ISBN:
6. (UK, archaic, informal, slang, uncountable) Marmalade.
   • There was a time when the “squish” manufactured by Mr. Frank Cooper at Oxford was not known very extensively outside the world of undergraduates. With the march of events though the fame of Cooper's Oxford marmalade has become world-wide, and the natural consequence is that a new factory has had to be built to cope with the increased business. 1905 March 11, “Odds and Ends”, in The Sphere: An Illustrated Newspaper for the Home, volume XX, London: Sphere & Tatler, page viii, column 1:
   • Where they are loaves and joints melt as snow in the sunshine; bowls of cream are of no more account than acorn-cups filled with dew; and the 'squish'—as they call the mother's home-made marmalade—has to be renewed daily; […] 1879 November, E[liza] Lynn Linton, “The Young Lions”, in Belgravia: An Illustrated London Magazine, volume XL, number CLVII, London: Chatto and Windus, […], published 1880, →OCLC, page 63:

Forms

Deriveds

squish mitten

Translations (4)

ru хлю́панье (sound of something being squeezed or crushed) · it scrocchio (sound of something being squeezed or crushed) · it scricchiolio (sound of something being squeezed or crushed) · bg скърцане (sound of something being squeezed or crushed)

wikipedia: Asexual Visibility and Education Network · wikipedia: Aaahh!!! Real Monsters · wikipedia: John R. Ross

squish en · VERB

Pronunciation

• /skwəʃ/ (New-Zealand)
• audio North Carolina
• (California) audio
• /skwɪʃ/ (Australia, Canada, General-American, Received-Pronunciation)

Etymology

Apparently an alteration of squash, influenced by obsolete squiss (“to squeeze”). Cognate with Scots squische, squies (“to crush, squeeze”). Compare also French esquicher, from Old Occitan esquichar (“to squeeze, squish”). See also squeeze and squelch. The noun is derived from the verb. The linguistic noun sense 4 was coined in 1972 by the American poet and linguist John R. Ross (1938–2025): see the quotation. Noun sense 5 (“a non-romantic and generally non-sexual infatuation”) was formed by analogy with crush and possibly smash, both of which have senses as types of compression as well as types of attraction. It was possibly first attested in 1999 (see the quotation) and then later coined or recoined in 2007 by the user Raisin on the forums of the Asexual Visibility and Education Network as "a milder synonym for the word 'crush'". The term was also used with a similar meaning in a 1997 episode of the TV show Aaahh!!! Real Monsters, though the 2007 coining or recoining was apparently independent.

Meanings

1. (ambitransitive, informal) To squeeze, compress, or crush (especially something moist).
   • If you see aphids on your broad beans, don’t panic. Don’t squish or spray immediately, but sit back and see what happens. 2017, Kate Bradbury, “Where to Start: Creating Wildlife Habitats”, in The Wildlife Gardener: Creating a Haven for Birds, Bees and Butterflies, Barnsley, South Yorkshire: Pen & Sword White Owl, →ISBN, page 51, column 2:
   • The sandwich tasted fine, even though it had got squished in his lunchbox.
   • Rather than squishing everything into a tiny window, I have shown only part of my app. 2012, Adam Freeman, “Responding to Layout Changes in Code”, in Metro Revealed: Building Windows 8 Apps with XAML and C# (The Expert’s Voice in Windows 8), →ISBN, chapter 4 (Layouts and Tiles), page 57:
   • It hadn't rained for a few days, and the water in the ditch had been stagnant long enough for insect larvae to hatch. One landed on her nose, and she squished it before flicking it away from her finger. 2008, Robert Muchamore, “Trek”, in The Sleepwalker (CHERUB; 9), London: Hodder Children’s Books, →ISBN, page 90:
2. (informal, intransitive) To be compressed or squeezed.
   • I kicked off my shoes and wiggled my toes on the soft moss. It felt amazing as it squished between my toes, cool and mushy. 2013, Julia Crane, Talia Jager, chapter 7, in Broken Promise (A Between Worlds Novel; 2), [Clarksville, Tenn.]: Valknut Press, →ISBN:
3. (informal, intransitive) To make the sound of something being squeezed or crushed.
   • His clothes were dripping wet and his shoes squished with every step. 1957, Harvey Weiss, A Gondola for Fun, New York, N.Y.: G. P. Putnam’s Sons, →LCCN, →OCLC:
   • Annie gripped the notebook like a lance and hurried out the door. Annie Laurance-Darling off to war! But she did wish her shoes would stop squishing as she walked. 1988, Carolyn G. Hart, “Mid-morning Monday”, in Honeymoon with Murder (A Death on Demand Mystery; 4), large print edition, Waterville, Me.: Thorndike Press, →ISBN, page 290:
   • My clothes still haven’t dried from the last time we went swimming. I haven’t been dry since my plane from Phoenix landed. My socks never stop squishing and my underwear chafes. 2010, Greg van Eekhout, chapter 11, in Kid vs. Squid, New York, N.Y.: Bloomsbury Books for Young Readers, →ISBN, page 107:
4. (ambitransitive, informal) To proceed or make one’s way (somewhere) with the sound of something being squeezed or crushed.
   • LIKE A DUCK—Soaked to the point of not caring, this waterlogged pedestrian squishes his way across a downtown street. 1952 July 9, “5.60 Inches of Rain Set New Record […]”, in The Sun, final edition, volume 231, number 45, Baltimore, Md.: A. S. Abell Company, →OCLC, page 32, column 3:
   • “On your left!” a rider yelled, tires squishing through the ooze. 2007 November 30, Stephen Regenold, “Cyclocross: Mud, Sweat and Gears”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 12 Sep 2013:
   • About two miles up the steep hill that rises above this village, muddy water gushed through tents and small children dressed in light clothing squished around barefoot. 1998 September 29, Jane Perlez, “For Kosovo Refugees, a Grim Augur of Winter”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 27 May 2015:
   • We squished down a rutted lane, side-stepped a herd of cows, and eventually found an explanatory plaque. 1961, Muriel Beadle, chapter 4, in These Ruins Are Inhabited, Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday & Company, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 50:
   • Taking soil samples is time-consuming, tedious work. Drive for hours. Walk for hours. Bushwhack. Squish around in bogs. Gather a spoonful of dirt. Do it all again. 2022 July 27, Somini Sengupta, Tomás Munita, “Unearthing the Secret Superpowers of Fungus”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 28 Jul 2022:

Forms

Deriveds

squishingly · unsquished · squishie · squisher · squishiness · squishy · squishability · squishable

Synonyms

scrunch · press · compactify · mash · telescope · smush · pack · densitize · squoosh · squash · squeeze · squish · compact · condense · squash · astringe · thring · condense · thrutch

Translations (30)

de zermatschen (to squeeze, compress, or crush) · cs rozmáčknout (to squeeze, compress, or crush) · lt susmulkinti (to squeeze, compress, or crush) · ru разда́вливать (to squeeze, compress, or crush) · eo dispremi (to squeeze, compress, or crush) · fi puristaa (to squeeze, compress, or crush) · vi vắt (to squeeze, compress, or crush) · cmn 擠壓 /挤压 (to squeeze, compress, or crush) · de quetschen (to squeeze, compress, or crush) · ru расплю́щить (to squeeze, compress, or crush) · fr écraser (to squeeze, compress, or crush) · fi liiskata (to squeeze, compress, or crush) · fr presser (to squeeze, compress, or crush) · nn mosa (to squeeze, compress, or crush) · it spiaccicare (to squeeze, compress, or crush) · tr pelte gibi yapmak (to squeeze, compress, or crush) · de zerquetschen (to squeeze, compress, or crush) · vi bóp (to squeeze, compress, or crush) · tr vıcık vıcık yerde yürümek (to squeeze, compress, or crush) · tr şap şap yürümek (to squeeze, compress, or crush) · it spappolare (to squeeze, compress, or crush) · cs zmáčknout (to squeeze, compress, or crush) · fi rutistaa (to squeeze, compress, or crush) · fi musertaa (to squeeze, compress, or crush) · tr ezmek (to squeeze, compress, or crush) · tr peltemsi yapmak (to squeeze, compress, or crush) · bg мачкам (to squeeze, compress, or crush) · ru расплю́щивать (to squeeze, compress, or crush) · ru раздави́ть (to squeeze, compress, or crush) · vi ép (to squeeze, compress, or crush)

wikipedia: Asexual Visibility and Education Network · wikipedia: Aaahh!!! Real Monsters · wikipedia: John R. Ross