squash Definition

squash¹
verb squashes, squashed, squashing

1. To crush or flatten by pressing or squeezing.

Thesaurus: press, compress, flatten, crush; Antonym: elongate, stretch.
tr & intr
2. To force someone or something into a confined space.

Example: managed to squash all the washing into one bag
3. To suppress or put down (eg a rebellion).

Thesaurus: annihilate, suppress, quell, quash, humiliate.
4. To force someone into silence with a cutting reply.

noun squashes

1. A concentrated fruit syrup, or a drink made by diluting this.
2. A crushed or crowded state.
3a. squash rackets;
3b. squash tennis.
4a. An act or the process of squashing something;
4b. The sound of something being squashed.

Derivative: squashable
adj

Etymology: 17c: from French esquasser to crush.

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squash²

1. Any of various trailing plants that have yellow funnel-shaped flowers and which are widely cultivated for their marrow-like gourds.
2. The fruit of any of these plants which can be cooked and used as a vegetable.

Etymology: 17c: from Narragansett (a Native American language) askutasquash.