Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- intransitive verb To press hard on or together; compress.
- intransitive verb To press gently, as in affection.
- intransitive verb To exert pressure on, as by way of extracting liquid.
- intransitive verb To extract by applying pressure.
- intransitive verb To extract or gain by intimidation or other pressure.
- intransitive verb To pressure or intimidate (someone) to comply with a demand, as to make an extortion payment.
- intransitive verb To obtain room for by pressure; cram.
- intransitive verb To manage to find time or space for.
- intransitive verb Games To force (an opponent) to use a potentially winning card in a trick he or she cannot take in bridge.
- intransitive verb To cause (a run or base runner) to score on a squeeze play.
- intransitive verb To call as balls pitches thrown by (a pitcher) near the edges of the strike zone. Used of an umpire.
- intransitive verb To give way under pressure.
- intransitive verb To exert pressure.
- intransitive verb To force one's way.
- noun The act or an instance of squeezing.
- noun A handclasp or brief embrace.
- noun An amount squeezed out.
- noun A group crowded together; a crush.
- noun Financial pressure caused by shortages or narrowing economic margins.
- noun Pressure or intimidation to comply with a demand, as to make an extortion payment.
- noun Games A forced discard of a potentially winning card in bridge.
- noun Baseball A squeeze play.
- noun Slang One's primary romantic partner or sweetheart.
from The Century Dictionary.
- To compel to repurchase at disadvantage stock that has been sold short.
- To press forcibly; subject to strong pressure; exert pressure upon: as, to
squeeze a sponge; hence, to bruise or crush by the application of pressure: as, tosqueeze one's fingers in a vise; apply force or pressure to for the purpose of extracting something: as, tosqueeze a lemon. - To press in sympathy or affection, or as a silent indication of interest or emotion: as, to
squeeze one's hand. - To produce or procure by the application of pressure; express; extract: usually with out: as, to
squeeze consent from an official. - To thrust forcibly; force: with into, or other similar adjunct: as, to
squeeze a gown into a box. - To harass or oppress by exactions or the like.
- To obtain a facsimile impression of on paper, by means of water and rubbing or beating. See
squeeze , n., 3. - To press; press, push, or force one's way through or into some tight, narrow, or crowded place; pass by pressing or pushing.
- To pass (through a body) under the application of pressure.
- noun Pressure, or an application of pressure; a hug or embrace; a friendly, sympathetic, or loving grasp: as, a squeeze of the hand.
- noun Crush; crowding.
- noun A cast or an impression, as of an inscription or a coin, produced by forcing some plastic material into the hollows or depressions of the surface; especially, such a facsimile or impression made by applying sheets of wet unsized paper to the object to be copied, and thoroughly passing over the sheets with light blows of a stiff brush, so as to force the paper into every inequality.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- intransitive verb To press; to urge one's way, or to pass, by pressing; to crowd; -- often with
through ,into , etc.. - transitive verb To press between two bodies; to press together closely; to compress; often, to compress so as to expel juice, moisture, etc.
- transitive verb Fig.: To oppress with hardships, burdens, or taxes; to harass; to crush.
- transitive verb To force, or cause to pass, by compression; often with
out ,through , etc.. - noun The act of one who squeezes; compression between bodies; pressure.
- noun A facsimile impression taken in some soft substance, as pulp, from an inscription on stone.
- noun (Mining) The gradual closing of workings by the weight of the overlying strata.
- noun colloq. Pressure or constraint used to force the making of a gift, concession, or the like; exaction; extortion.
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
Support
Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word squeeze.
Examples
-
It kept eating my comment to cweenmj up there, so I’m going to squeeze him down here lol *squeeze*
It’s not what it looks like! - Lolcats 'n' Funny Pictures of Cats - I Can Has Cheezburger? 2009
-
Oscar, my main squeeze is threatening to put your lights out.
-
We do want to remind everybody what they're looking at, though, on the screen because we have what we call the squeeze-back.
-
In fact, quickly, before we chat with you, I just want to remind everybody, as Rob was saying, you see there on the side of your screen, we'll have what we call a squeeze back all day long on the winter weather conditions and flight delays across the country.
-
"There's several questions about the squeeze last night, and a lot of people tend to think that the squeeze is a given, that it works," Garner said.
-
But as you see, on the screen we do have what we call a squeeze-back (ph) so that you can see the different weather across the nation as well as the airport delays at many of the airports across the country.
-
I am well aware of the need for governments to exercise restraint in their spending, but if the squeeze is applied too hard to the industry, research budgets will inevitably be reduced and much needed new treatments will take longer to arrive.
Global Economic Pressures and the Quest for New Medicines 1996
-
The goal for amending soil is for it to pass what I call the "squeeze test."
The Seattle Times 2011
-
Even if Vitamin C does bolster the body's absorption of iron, it seems doubtful that a "squeeze" is a sufficient amount to do the trick.
Food Combos More Nutritious Together Than Separate | Lifehacker Australia 2009
-
And what happens when you squeeze is that the structure shrinks and the water gets squeezed out.
maesepedro commented on the word squeeze
But only as a way of referring to a boyfriend / girlfriend / partner / love-interest
January 2, 2008
pikachu commented on the word squeeze
"But these chaps were not much account, really. They were no colonists; their administration was merely a squeeze, and nothing more, I suspect. They were conquerors..." --Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad
Definition #8 under the Wordnet tab i think...
March 5, 2011