mash

Meanings

1. 1
   verb

   To crush food into a soft, smooth mass.

   Mash the potatoes with a little butter and milk.

2. 2
   verb

   To press down hard on something.

   He mashed the brake pedal to stop in time.

Either by analogy with mash (“to press, to soften”), or more likely from Romani masha (“a fascinator, an enticer”), mashdva (“fascination, enticement”). Originally used in theater, and recorded in US in 1870s. Either originally used as mash, or a backformation from masher, from masha. Leland writes of the etymology: : It was introduced by the well-known gypsy family of actors, C., among whom Romany was habitually spoken. The word “masher” or “mash” means in that tongue to allure, delude, or entice. It was doubtless much aided in its popularity by its quasi-identity with the English word. But t…

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