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, from Old English cwesan, cwȳsan, itself also of unknown origin, perhaps imitative (compare Swedish qväsa, kväsa ("to squeeze, bruise, crush; quell"), Dutch kwetsen, German quetschen).

The slang expression "to put the squeeze on (someone or something)", meaning "to exert influence", is from 1711.

The nonstandard strong forms squoze and squozen, attested dialectally since at least the mid-19th century, are by analogy with freeze.

• IPA: /skwiːz/

squeeze (squeezes, present participle squeezing; simple past and past participle squeezed)

1. (transitive) To apply pressure to from two or more sides at once.

   I squeezed the ball between my hands.

   Please don't squeeze the toothpaste tube in the middle.

   • 1922 October 26, Virginia Woolf, chapter 1, in Jacob's Room, Richmond, London: […] Leonard & Virginia Woolf at the Hogarth Press, →OCLC ↗; republished London: The Hogarth Press, 1960, →OCLC ↗:

     "Over there—by the rock," Steele muttered, with his brush between his teeth, squeezing out raw sienna, and keeping his eyes fixed on Betty Flanders's back.

2. (transitive) To embrace closely; to give a tight hug to.
3. (ambitransitive) To fit into a tight place.

   I managed to squeeze the car into that parking space.

   Can you squeeze through that gap?

   • 1908 October, Kenneth Grahame, The Wind in the Willows, New York, N.Y.: Charles Scribner's Sons, →OCLC ↗:

     Could he not squeeze under the seat of a carriage? He had seen this method adopted by schoolboys, when the journey- money provided by thoughtful parents had been diverted to other and better ends.

4. (transitive) To remove something with difficulty, or apparent difficulty.

   He squeezed some money out of his wallet.

5. (transitive) To put in a difficult position by presenting two or more choices.

   I'm being squeezed between my job and my volunteer work.

6. (transitive, figurative) To oppress with hardships, burdens, or taxes; to harass.
   • 1692, Roger L'Estrange, “ (please specify the fable number.) (please specify the name of the fable.)”, in Fables, of Æsop and Other Eminent Mythologists: […], London: […] R[ichard] Sare, […], →OCLC ↗:

     a Civil War where People must expect to be crush'd and squeez'd in the Consequence

7. (transitive, baseball) To attempt to score a runner from third by bunting.

   Jones squeezed in Smith with a perfect bunt.

• (to apply pressure to from two or more sides at once) compress, condense; see also Thesaurus:compress

• French: presser, comprimer, tasser, serrer
• German: drücken, klemmen, pressen, quetschen
• Italian: spremere, stringere, serrare, strizzare
• Portuguese: espremer, apertar
• Russian: сжима́ть
• Spanish: exprimir, apretar

• German: quetschen, zwängen
• Portuguese: espremer
• Russian: вти́скивать
• Spanish: apretujar

• French: pressurer
• Italian: spremersi
• Russian: выжима́ть

squeeze (plural squeezes)

1. An instance of squeezing.

   to give something a squeeze ― to squeeze something

2. A close or tight fit.
3. (figuratively) A difficult position.

   I'm in a tight squeeze right now when it comes to my free time.

4. A hug or other affectionate grasp.

   a gentle squeeze on the arm

5. (slang) A romantic partner.

   I want to be your main squeeze.

   • 1984, William Gibson, Neuromancer (Sprawl; book 1), New York, N.Y.: Ace Books, →ISBN, page 9 ↗:

     “No, Mona. Her new squeeze is one of Wage's boys.”

6. (slang) An illicit alcoholic drink made by squeezing Sterno through cheesecloth, etc., and mixing the result with fruit juice.
7. (baseball) The act of bunting in an attempt to score a runner from third.

   The game ended in exciting fashion with a failed squeeze.

8. (card games) A play that forces an opponent to discard a card that gives up one or more tricks.
9. (caving) A traversal of a narrow passage.

   It was a tight squeeze, but I got through to the next section of the cave.

10. A moulding, cast or other impression of an object, chiefly a design, inscription etc., especially by pressing wet paper onto the surface and peeling off when dry.
11. (mining) The gradual closing of workings by the weight of the overlying strata.
12. (dated) The situation experienced by a middleman when pressured from both sides, especially financially.
13. (dated) A bribe, fee, or extortionary price paid to a middleman, especially in China; the practice of requiring such a bribe or fee.
    • 1882, William C. Hunter, The "Fan Kwae" at Canton before treaty days 1825-1844:

      If the licence […] was costly, it secured to them uninterrupted and extraordinary pecuniary advantages; but on the other hand it subjected them to 'calls' or 'squeezes' for contributions to public works, […] for the relief of districts suffering from scarcity […] as well as for the often imaginary […] damage caused by the overflowing of the 'Yangtse Keang' or the 'Yellow River.'

    • 1899 February, Joseph Conrad, “The Heart of Darkness”, in Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, volume CLXV, number M, New York, N.Y.: The Leonard Scott Publishing Company, […], →OCLC ↗, part I, page 196 ↗:

      They were no colonists; their administration was merely a squeeze, and nothing more, I suspect.

• German: Klemme
• Portuguese: aperto, apuro
• Spanish: apuro, crisis

• Russian: пожа́тие

• Portuguese: ficante

• German: Engpass

• German: Abklatsch