squeak

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English[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

  • IPA(key): /skwiːk/
  • Audio (US)(file)
  • Rhymes: -iːk

Noun[edit]

squeak (countable and uncountable, plural squeaks)

Examples
The squeak of a guinea pig(file)
  1. (countable) A short, high-pitched sound, as of two objects rubbing together, or the sounds made by mice and other small animals.
  2. (uncountable, games) A card game similar to group solitaire.
  3. (countable, slang) A narrow squeak.
    • 1905, E. W. Hornung, A Thief in the Night:
      "I had the very devil of a squeak for it," he went on. "I did the hurdles over two or three garden-walls, but so did the flyer who was on my tracks, and he drove me back into the straight and down to High Street like any lamplighter. […]

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Verb[edit]

squeak (third-person singular simple present squeaks, present participle squeaking, simple past and past participle squeaked)

  1. (intransitive) To emit a short, high-pitched sound.
    • 2014 August 17, Jeff Howell, “Home improvements: Repairing and replacing floorboards [print version: Never buy anything from a salesman, 16 August 2014, p. P7]”, in The Daily Telegraph (Property)‎[1]:
      But I must warn you that chipboard floors are always likely to squeak. The material is still being used in new-builds, but developers now use adhesive to bed and joint it, rather than screws or nails. I suspect the adhesive will eventually embrittle and crack, resulting in the same squeaking problems as before.
  2. (intransitive, slang) To inform, to squeal.
    • 1690, [John] Dryden, Don Sebastian, King of Portugal: […], London: […] Jo. Hindmarsh, […], →OCLC, (please specify the page number):
      If he be obstinate, put a civil question to him upon the rack, and he squeaks, I warrant him.
  3. (transitive) To speak or sound in a high-pitched manner.
  4. (intransitive, games) To empty the pile of 13 cards a player deals to oneself in the card game of the same name.
  5. (intransitive, informal) To win or progress by a narrow margin.
    • 1999, Surfer, volume 40, numbers 7-12:
      […] allowing Parkinson to squeak into the final by a half-point margin.
    • 2011 October 23, Tom Fordyce, “2011 Rugby World Cup final: New Zealand 8-7 France”, in BBC Sport‎[2]:
      France were transformed from the feeble, divided unit that had squeaked past Wales in the semi-final, their half-backs finding the corners with beautifully judged kicks from hand, the forwards making yards with every drive and a reorganised Kiwi line-out beginning to malfunction.

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