squash

UK: /ˈskwɒʃ/ US: /skwɑʃ, skwɔʃ/ ,(skwosh, skwôsh)

Inflections of 'squash' (n):

squashes

npl (All usages)

squash

npl (Can be used as a collective plural for the vegetable or plant—e.g. "We grow squash in the garden every year.")

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026

squash¹ /skwɑʃ, skwɔʃ/   v. 

1. to press into a flat mass;
   crush:
   [~ + object] She squashed the spider with her shoe.
2. to press with force into a small space;
   cram: [~ + object]
   squashed six of us into the tiny car.
   [no object]
   A huge man squashed next to me on the bus.
3. to silence or smother;
   suppress;
   quash:
   [~ + object] to squash the indictment.

n. 

4. [countable] an act or instance of squashing or being squashed;
   the sound of this.
5. [countable] something squashed.
6. Sport Also called ˈsquash ˌrac•quets. a game for two or four persons, similar to racquets.
7. Sport [uncountable] Also called ˈsquash ˌten•nis. a game for two persons, resembling squash racquets except that the ball is larger and the racket is shaped like a tennis racket.
8. British Terms a beverage made from fruit juice and soda water:
   [uncountable] lemon squash.

squash•y, adj., -i•er, -i•est. 

squash² /skwɑʃ, skwɔʃ/   n., pl. squash•es, (esp. when thought of as a group) squash. 

1. Plant Biology the fruit of a plant of the gourd family, eaten as a vegetable:
   [countable] Buy two squashes at the store.
   [uncountable] some cooked squash.
2. Plant Biology [countable] a plant having such fruit.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026

squash¹  (skwosh, skwôsh), v.t. 

1. to press into a flat mass or pulp;
   crush:
   She squashed the flower under her heel.
2. to suppress or put down;
   quash.
3. to silence or disconcert (someone), as with a crushing retort or emotional or psychological pressure.
4. to press forcibly against or cram into a small space;
   squeeze.

v.i. 

5. to be pressed into a flat mass or pulp.
6. (of a soft, heavy body) to fall heavily.
7. to make a splashing sound;
   splash.
8. to be capable of being or likely to be squashed:
   Tomatoes squash easily.
9. to squeeze or crowd;
   crush.

n. 

10. the act or sound of squashing.
11. the fact of squashing or of being squashed.
12. something squashed or crushed.
13. something soft and easily crushed.
14. Sport Also called squash′ rac′quets. a game for two or four persons, similar to racquets but played on a smaller court and with a racket having a round head and a long handle. See illus. under racket ².
15. Sport Also called squash′ ten′nis. a game for two persons, resembling squash racquets except that the ball is larger and livelier and the racket is shaped like a tennis racket.
16. British Terms a beverage made from fruit juice and soda water:
    lemon squash.

• Vulgar Latin *exquassāre. See ex-¹, quash
• Middle French esquasser
• 1555–65

squash′er, n. 
Synonyms

• 2, 3. quell, crush, repress.

squash²  (skwosh, skwôsh), n., pl. squash•es, ([esp. collectively] ) squash. 

1. Plant Biology the fruit of any of various vinelike, tendril-bearing plants belonging to the genus Curcurbita, of the gourd family, as C. moschata or C. pepo, used as a vegetable.
2. Plant Biology any of these plants.

• Narragansett (English spelling, spelled) askútasquash (plural)
• 1635–45, American.

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

squash / skwɒʃ/ verb

1. to press or squeeze or be pressed or squeezed in or down so as to crush, distort, or pulp
2. (transitive) to suppress or overcome
3. (transitive) to humiliate or crush (a person), esp with a disconcerting retort
4. (intransitive) to make a sucking, splashing, or squelching sound
5. often followed by in or into: to enter or insert in a confined space

noun

1. a still drink made from fruit juice or fruit syrup diluted with water
2. a crush, esp of people in a confined space
3. something that is squashed
4. the act or sound of squashing or the state of being squashed
5. Also called: squash rackets, squash racquets a game for two or four players played in an enclosed court with a small rubber ball and light long-handled rackets. The ball may be hit against any of the walls but must hit the facing wall at a point above a horizontal line
   See also rackets
6. Also called: squash tennis a similar game played with larger rackets and a larger pneumatic ball

Etymology: 16th Century: from Old French esquasser, from Vulgar Latin exquassāre (unattested), from Latin ex-¹ + quassāre to shatter

ˈsquasher noun

squash / skwɒʃ/ noun (squashes, squash)

1. any of various marrow-like cucurbitaceous plants of the genus Cucurbita, esp C. pepo and C. moschata, the fruits of which have a hard rind surrounding edible flesh
2. the fruit of any of these plants, eaten as a vegetable

Etymology: 17th Century: from Narraganset askutasquash, literally: green vegetable eaten green