squeeze

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   the act of forcing yourself (or being forced) into or through a restricted space

   getting through that small opening was a tight squeeze

2. 2
   noun

   the act of gripping and pressing firmly

   I squeezed the balloon and it popped.

3. 3
   noun

   slang for a person's girlfriend or boyfriend

   They were your main squeeze until you soured on them.

4. 4
   noun

   a situation in which increased costs cannot be passed on to the customer

   increased expenses put a squeeze on profits

5. 5
   verb

   press firmly

   You squeezed my hand.

6. 6
   verb

   squeeze like a wedge into a tight space

   I squeezed myself into the corner

7. 7
   verb

   to cause to do through pressure or necessity, by physical, moral or intellectual means

   I squeezed them for information.

8. 8
   verb

   To apply pressure to from two or more sides at once.

   I squeezed the ball between my hands.

Etymology

From earlier squize, squise (whence also dialectal English squizzen and squeege), first attested around 1600, further origin uncertain; probably an alteration of quease (which is attested since 1550), from Middle English queisen (“to squeeze”), from Old English cwȳsan (“to crush, squeeze”), itself also of unknown origin, perhaps imitative (compare Swedish qväsa, kväsa (“to squeeze, bruise, crush; quell”), Dutch kwetsen (“to injure, hurt”), German quetschen (“to squeeze”)). Or, a blend of obsolete squiss (“to squeeze”) (whence also squash and squish) with quease. Compare also French esquicher f…