Jump to content

squish

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

English

[edit]
WOTD – 30 July 2026

Etymology

[edit]

Apparently an alteration of squash, influenced by obsolete squiss (“to squeeze”).[1] 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.[2]

The linguistic noun sense 4 was coined in 1972 by the American poet and linguist John R. Ross (1938–2025): see the quotation.[3]

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'".[4] The term was also used with a similar meaning in a 1997 episode of the TV show Aaahh!!! Real Monsters,[5] though the 2007 coining or recoining was apparently independent.[4]

Pronunciation

[edit]

Verb

[edit]
A piece of “Chocolate Mochi Snack Cake” being squished (sense 1) in order to show its bouncy texture

squish (third-person singular simple present squishes, present participle squishing, simple past and past participle squished) (informal)

  2. (ambitransitive) To squeeze, compress, or crush (especially something moist).
    Synonyms: condense, squash; see also Thesaurus:compress
    The sandwich tasted fine, even though it had got squished in his lunchbox.
    • 2008, Robert Muchamore, “Trek”, in The Sleepwalker (CHERUB; 9), London: Hodder Children’s Books, →ISBN, page 90:
      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.
    • 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:
      Rather than squishing everything into a tiny window, I have shown only part of my app.
    • 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:
      If you see aphids on your broad beans, don’t panic. Don’t squish or spray immediately, but sit back and see what happens.
  3. (intransitive) To be compressed or squeezed.
    • 2013, Julia Crane, Talia Jager, chapter 7, in Broken Promise (A Between Worlds Novel; 2), [Clarksville, Tenn.]: Valknut Press, →ISBN:
      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.
  4. (intransitive) To make the sound of something being squeezed or crushed.
  5. (ambitransitive) To proceed or make one’s way (somewhere) with the sound of something being squeezed or crushed.

Derived terms

[edit]

Translations

[edit]

Noun

[edit]
A squish band (sense 3)

squish (countable and uncountable, plural squishes)

  1. (countable, informal) The sound or action of something, especially something moist, being squeezed or crushed.
    • 2007, Robin Parrish, chapter 38, in Fearless (The Dominion Trilogy; 2), Minneapolis, Minn.: Bethany House Publishers, →ISBN, page 207:
      Alex reached the bottom and Grant heard a squish as she landed in the mud on the bottom of the river.
  2. (countable, politics, informal, derogatory) A political moderate; a moderate on a specific issue.
    The cadre of squishes in this party may disgree with me.
    He's a squish on abortion.
  4. (uncountable, engineering, often attributive) An effect in internal combustion engines which creates sudden turbulence of the air–fuel mixture as the piston approaches top dead center.
    • 1934, the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Proceedings, volume 128, London: […] [T]he Institution, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 155:
      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.”
    • 1951, the Institution of Mechanical Engineers incorporating the Institute of Automobile Engineers, Automobile Division, Proceedings, London: […] [T]he Institution, →OCLC, page 103, column 2:
      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.
    • 1994 September 25, Agis Salpukas, “Driving Smart: A Chattering Engine May Tell a Dirty Secret”, in The New York Times‎[8], New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 29 August 2014:
      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.
    • 2011 September 18, Martin Buckley, “Chris Lawrence obituary”, in Alan Rusbridger, editor, The Guardian‎[9], London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 1 October 2013:
      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.
  6. (countable, linguistics) A continuum or progression between categories that are normally considered discrete.
    • 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:
      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.
    • 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:
      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.
    • 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:
      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.
  8. (countable, slang) A non-romantic and generally non-sexual infatuation with somebody one is not dating, or the object of that infatuation; a platonic crush.
    • 1999 November 21, [T.] <tek3@cx159572-a.elcjn1.sdca.home.com>, “A Transgendered Revolution!”, in soc.support.transgendered‎[10] (Usenet), archived from the original on 29 July 2026:
      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.
    • 2013 September 1, “The 'A' in LGBT”, in Counterpoint […], volume 35, number 1, Cambridge, Mass.: Advocates of Rational Discourse, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 8:
      After feeling these concerns, I was happy to learn about squishes and queerplatonic partners (also known as zucchinis, for some reason unclear to me).
    • 2014, Peter Toohey, Jealousy‎[11], New Haven, Conn.; London: Yale University Press, →ISBN:
      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.
  9. (uncountable, UK, slang, archaic) Marmalade.
    • 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:
      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; […]
    • 1905 March 11, “Odds and Ends”, in The Sphere: An Illustrated Newspaper for the Home, volume XX, London: Sphere & Tatler, page viii, column 1:
      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.

Derived terms

[edit]

Translations

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Douglas Harper (2001–2026), “squish (v.)”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.
  2. ^ “squish, n.”, in OED Online Paid subscription required⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, launched 2000.
  3. ^ David Crystal (1980), “squish”, in A First Dictionary of Linguistics and Phonetics (The Language Library), Boulder, Colo.: Westview Press, →ISBN, page 328.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Raisin (23 April 2007), “*SQUISH!*”, in Asexuality Visibility and Education Network‎[1], archived from the original on 10 October 2014.
  5. ^ Victor Wilson (28 September 1997), “She Likes Me?”, in Aaahh!!! Real Monsters, season 4, episode 6b (television production), New York, N.Y., via Nickelodeon: “That’s because she has a squish on you.”

Further reading

[edit]
Retrieved from "https://en.wiktionary.org/w/index.php?title=squish&oldid=91752621"